Performance Comparison of Gasoline-Water and Gasoline-Methanol Emulsions as Spark Ignition Engine Fuels

Performance comparisons of gasoline-water and gasoline-methanol emulsions as spark ignition engine fuels are presented. The gasoline-water mixture as a fuel contains 5%, 10% and 15% of water by volume versus 30% of methanol by volume in gasohol. Engine output, peak pressure, fuel consumption, and mass burning rate of all fuel emulsions were recorded and analyzed with the pressure-time data. The experiments were carried out on a commercial single cylinder, air cooled spark ignition engine at 2000 RPM and MBT operating conditions. Satisfactory running results were obtained and no abnormal or sluggish movement of the engine was observed during the tests. Preliminary results indicate that the gasoline-water emulsion can be adopted and burned efficiently in an existing SI engine power plant.