The effect of use E85 ethanol fuel on a five-stroke engine

Abstract

The article presents the analysis of the impact of the use of E85 ethanol fuel on operating parameters and toxicity of exhaust gases of a spark ignition engine with an additional expansion in a separate cylinder. Such an engine in literature most often referred to as five-stroke was developed at the Cracow University of Technology (CUT). The use of additional exhaust expansion was aimed at achieving high thermal efficiency when working with an average high load. The engine developed in CUT is equipped with a turbocharger and direct fuel injection, hence the use of fuel with high ethanol content was aimed at the effective use of these attributes. The obtained results indicated an improvement in the brake thermal efficiency of the engine when fuelling with E85 in relation to the gasoline of 98 octane rating normally used for this engine. On the other hand, the efficiency of the conversion of the catalytic converter has deteriorated somewhat. Directions for further activities and research in the subject were also determined.