Journal of Modern Mechanical Engineering and Technology

Articles

Vol. 13 (2026)

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Hydrous Methanol (5% Water) on the Performance and Emissions of a Spark-Ignition Engine

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31875/2409-9848.2026.13.11
Submitted
September 24, 2026
Published
2026-11-05

Abstract

Distillation is an inevitable step in the production of pure methanol to remove water and residual gases from its crude state. However, it increases the overall cost of production of concentrated methanol. The current study is targeted towards usage of hydrous methanol in an automotive spark ignition engine. Engine was run at stoichiometric equivalence ratio with a constant speed of 4000 rpm and variable torque (3-9 Nm). Water was blended in methanol by 5% v/v. The volumetric efficiency increased drastically with hydrous methanol by 22.5% and 14.7% at lower and higher torque respectively as compared to base methanol (100%). Brake thermal efficiency increased by 18% at lower torque and decreased by 21.6% at high torque with hydrous methanol. In addition to this, NOx emission decreased by 83.7% and 19.7% at lower and higher torque respectively with hydrous methanol. CO emission also decreased due to increase in air to fuel ratio with hydrous methanol.

References

  1. T. Venugopal, A. Ramesh, Effective utilisation of butanol along with gasoline in a spark ignition engine through a dual injection system, Appl. Therm. Eng., 59 (2013), pp. 550-558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2013.06.026
  2. Xudong Zhen, Yang Wang, An overview of methanol as an internal combustion engine fuel Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 52 (2015), pp. 477-493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.083
  3. M. Abu-Zaid, O. Badran, J. Yamin, Effect of methanol addition on the performance of spark ignition engines, Energy Fuels, 18 (2004), pp. 312-315. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef030103d
  4. S. Verhelst, J. W. Turner, L. Sileghem, and J. Vancoillie, “Methanol as a fuel for internal combustion engines,” Prog. Energy Combust. Sci., 70 (2019), pp. 43-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecs.2018.10.001
  5. Nidhi, Comparative Study on The Effect of Oxygen-Enriched Air on Combustion of a Spark Ignition Engine Fuelled with Methanol and Ethanol, International Journal of Thermodynamics.
  6. Sathaporn Chuepeng, Sudecha Srisuwan, Manida Tongroon, Lean hydrous and anhydrous bioethanol combustion in spark ignition engine at idle, Energy Convers. Manag, 128 (2016), pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.09.059
  7. M. O. El-Faroug, F. Yan, M. Luo, and R. F. Turkson, Spark ignition engine combustion, performance and emission products from hydrous ethanol and its blends with gasoline, Energies, 9 (2016). https://doi.org/10.3390/en9120984
  8. Louis Sileghem, Ben Casier, Alexander Coppens, Jeroen Vancoillie, Sebastian Verhelst, Influence of water content in ethanol-water blends on the performance and emissions of an SI engine, F2014-CET-014 (2014).
  9. L. Sileghem, T. Huylebroeck, A. Van Den Bulcke, J. Vancoillie, and S. Verhelst, Performance and emissions of a SI engine using methanol-water blends, SAE Tech. Pap., 2 (2013). https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-1319