Brazil has been a leader for the past 30 years in the development and commercialization of vehicles powered by ethanol, which contributes significantly to maintain the basic Brazilian energy less dependent on fossil fuels, but its usage was restricted to small vehicles with focus on gasoline replacement. Whereas the use of diesel fuel has significant impact on emission of greenhouse gases when it is compared to the whole production cycle of the alternative fuels (“well to wheel” analysis), these fuels have been the focus of studies, applications, federal government programs, and also the private sector, such as bio-diesel, sugar cane diesel, ethanol with additive for diesel cycle and diesel-gas Dual-Fuel.
This paper will detail the development a high efficient engine fueled with 100% hydrated ethanol capable to achieve up to 42% of break efficiency, similar to a diesel efficiency running on Otto cycle. The engine was developed based on 12 liters of displacement diesel longblock and achieved peak power of 350 kW @ 1800 rpm.
This development was base on computational numeric simulation, materials and specific components development, turbo matching and engine control calibration. The project main focus was durability, performance and efficiency, as a result it was achieved the same level of diesel engines.