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Abstract
The use of alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol, hydrogen, and butanol in spark-ignition (SI) engines is beneficial to the environment as it reduces emissions of pollutants such as NOx from these engines with slight penalty on the performance. This work investigated the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol/gasoline, methanol/gasoline, butanol/gasoline blends and fuels such as gasoline and methane in an SI engine by numerical simulations. The numerical simulations were based on the models of finite heat release, cylinder heat transfer, pumping losses, and friction losses. Simulations were carried out to evaluate the effects of compression ratio, equivalence ratio, ignition timing, and engine speed on the performance of the SI engine. The results of the simulations were compared with experimental data from the literature to validate the simulations. Good agreements between the computed and experimental results were obtained. The results showed that the current model could satisfactorily predict the performance of an SI engine fueled by alternative fuels.