No abstract

Alternative fuel source such as ethanol possess great potential to replace conventional fuels such as petrol and diesel. There has been a great increase in the usage of such fuels in the developing world, of late, with many countries having already mandated the usage of ethanol blended petrol. In developing countries, two stroke internal combustion engines continue to be used for powering agricultural implements and auto rickshaws. This paper presents the experimental investigations carried out on the usage of petrol blended with different proportions of ethanol by volume (5%, and 10%) as a fuel for an unmodified and used 100cc two stroke SI engine. The objectives of the experimental investigations are to determine whether ethanol blended petrol can be used as a suitable fuel for the commonly used two stroke internal combustion engine without any modifications. Tests were carried out on the engine, with petrol as the fuel initially and then with ethanol blended petrol with increasing proportion of ethanol. The total fuel consumption rate seemed to increase upon addition of ethanol. However, the brake specific fuel consumption remained fairly constant. The fact that brake specific fuel consumption varies only marginally indicate that ethanol can be used as a substitute for petrol, as a fuel.