No abstract

No abstract

A three-phase test program evaluated methanol/gasoline blends as possible automotive fuels. Octane rating of the blends demonstrated that methanol substantially increased the research octane number (RON) and had very little effect on the motor octane number (MON). Single cylinder engine tests indicated that 10% methanol/gasoline blends did not substantially alter power, emissions, or fuel economy of the engine. The vehicle portion of the test program included an ordinary spark ignition engine vehicle calibrated to meet 1974 standards and a prechamber, stratified--charge engine vehicle. HC and CO emissions were reduced using a 10% methanol blend in the 1974 calibration vehicle. Emissions and fuel economy were not substantially altered when a 10% methanol blend was tested in the stratified--charge engine vehicle. T^he use of alcohol as an internal combustion engine fuel is a conceptthat hacs been in and out of vogue since the early 1900s. These cycles of interest began in the early 1920s and seemed to peak about every 10 years until the present. Bolt (I) presents an interesting and informative discussion of these recurring efforts through the early 1960s. The incentives for these examinations of alcohols as motor fuels ranged from testing them as antiknock agents to evaluating ways to use surplus grain commodities by making ethyl alcohol.The current interest in alcohols as motor fuels is rooted in the search for alternate fuels to replace our suddenly limited petroleum-based fuels. The fact that methyl alcohol (methanol) can be produced from a variety of sources, including coal and garbage, has focused considerable attention on this material as a possible alternate fuel. The fact that the tech

No abstract

No abstract