Comparative studies on Performance evaluation of a two stroke copper coated spark ignition engine with alcohols with catalytic converter

Abstract

AimInvestigations were carried out to evaluate the performance of a two-stroke, single cylinder, spark ignition (SI) engine, with alcohol blended gasoline (80% gasoline, 20% methanol by vol; 80% gasoline and 20% ethanol by volume) having copper coated engine [CCE, copper-(thickness, 300μm) coated on piston crown, inner side of cylinder head] provided with catalytic converter with sponge iron as catalyst and compared with conventional SI engine (CE) with pure gasoline operation. Study designPerformance parameters of brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature and volumetric efficiency were determined at various values of brake mean effective pressure (BMEP). MethodologyA microprocessor-based analyzer was used for the measurement of carbon monoxide (CO) and un-burnt hydro carbons (UBHC) in the exhaust of the engine at various values of BMEP. Aldehydes were measured by dinitrophenyl hydrazine (DNPH) method at peak load operation of the engine. Brief resultsCCE with alcohol blended gasoline considerably reduced pollutants in comparison with CE with pure gasoline operation. Catalytic converter with air injection significantly reduced pollutants with test fuels on both configurations of the engine. Gasohol improved the performance of the both versions of the engine in comparison with methanol blended gasoline. On the other hand, methanol blended gasoline effectively reduced the emissions when compared with gasohol in both versions of the engine.