Low Temperature Starting Techniques for Ethanol Engine without Secondary Fuel Tank

The present study aims to investigate the parameters affecting cold start characteristics of ethanol at low temperature, and suggest a solution to avoid cold starting problem without the installation of second fuel tank. The testing engine is a 125cc volume displacement, single-cylinder four strokes SI engine with fuel injection and ignition timing system controlled by ECU (electronic control unit). The cold starting performance tests were extensively conducted with different percentages of ethanol blends, surrounding temperatures, heating inside combustion chamber, heater injector, pre-cranking without fuel injection, and amount of fuel injection. From the experimental results, when using ethanol fuel in conventional engine, the problem of cold starting was observed at surrounding temperature lower than 20°C for ethanol. Increasing of injection duration can lower the possible cold start temperature of neat ethanol. Glow plug and pre-cranking heating methods can help the engine start at much lower temperature. The combination of many techniques can make the ethanol engine start at the temperature as low as 3.5°C. These findings offer solutions to the cold start problem in engine fueled with neat ethanol fuel in Thailand.