Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Effect of ethanolgasoline blends on CO and HC emissions in last

generation SI engines within the cold-start transient: An experimental
investigation
Paolo Iodice , Adolfo Senatore, Giuseppe Langella, Amedeo Amoresano
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Universit degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

This study assesses the effect of

ethanolgasoline blends on cold
emissions.

A last generation motorcycle was
operated on the chassis
dynamometer.

A new calculation procedure was
applied to model the cold transient
behaviour.

The 20% v/v ethanol blend shows the
highest reduction of CO and HC cold
emissions.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Urban areas in developed countries are characterized by an increasing decline in air quality state mainly
Received 31 October 2015 due to the exhaust emissions from vehicles. Besides, due to catalyst improvements and electronic mix-
Received in revised form 10 June 2016 ture control of last generation engines, nowadays CO and HC cold start extra-emissions are heavily higher
Accepted 29 June 2016
than emissions exhausted in hot conditions, with a clear consequence on air quality of the urban con-
Available online 5 July 2016
texts. Ethanol combined with gasoline can be widely used as an alternative fuel due to the benefit of
its high octane number and its self-sustaining characteristics. Ethanol, in fact, is well known as potential
Keywords:
alcohol alternative fuel for SI engines, since it can be blended with gasoline to increase oxygen content,
Air pollution
Ethanolgasoline blends
then decreasing CO and HC emissions and the depletion of fossil fuels.
SI engine Literature data about cold emissive behaviour of SI engines powered with ethanol/gasoline blended
Cold start transient fuels are rather limited. For this reason, the aim of this study is to experimentally investigate the effect
Exhaust emissions of ethanol/gasoline blends on CO and HC cold start emissions of four-stroke SI engines: a last generation
Motorcycle emissive behaviour motorcycle was operated on the chassis dynamometer for exhaust emission measurements without
change to the engine design, while the ethanol was mixed with unleaded gasoline in different percent-
ages (10, 20 and 30 vol.%). Results of the experimental tests and the application of a new calculation pro-
cedure, designed and optimised to model the cold transient behaviour of SI engines using different
ethanolgasoline blends, indicate that CO and HC cold start emissions decrease compared to the use of

Corresponding author at: Universit degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Napoli, Italy.
E-mail address: paolo.iodice@unina.it (P. Iodice).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.06.144
0306-2619/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190
commercial gasoline, with the 20% v/v ethanol blend achieving the highest emission reduction. Moreover,
in this paper a review of the recent scientific literatures was performed on the emissive behaviour of SI
engines fuelled with ethanolgasoline blended fuels.
1. Introduction
The worlds energy demand is nowadays growing more and
more and the problem of the fossil fuels depletion is becoming
increasingly crucial. For this reason the development of innovative
technologies for the use of alternative fuels is a stringent necessity,
both to meet the energy demands and to limit the production of
carbon dioxides (CO2), directly responsible for global warming.
Currently more than 25 billion tons of CO2 arising from worldwide
human activities are released annually into the atmosphere [1].
Transportation sector is surely one of the most energy-
intensive, and emissions from internal combustion engines, widely
used in the road transport sector, are increasing considerably [2,3].
Pollutants produced by this activity, such as particulate matter
(PM), hydrocarbon (HC), carbon dioxides, carbon monoxides (CO)
and nitrogen oxides (NOX), affect strongly the air quality in the
urban areas [4], and about 22% global GHG (greenhouse gas) emis-
sions come from the larger and larger number of circulating vehi-
cles [5,6]. Carbon dioxide emission from this sector is expected to
increase by 92% in 2020, with respect to its value in 1990, while 8.6
billion metric tons carbon dioxide will be dispersed from 2020 to
2035, as reported by the International Energy Agency (IEA) [7].
Worldwide energy demand from transportation is growing by
1.1% every year tending to be at 63% responsible for fossil fuels
consumption in the next three decades [8].
In the last decades, therefore, due to this growing demand for
energy, increased fuel prices, and severe air pollution restrictions
in the road transport sector, nations worldwide are vigorously
developing and finding alternative fuel sources in order to reduce
the dependency on fossil fuels. Recently, attention has been drawn
to develop cleaner alternative fuels from renewable sources, in
order to reduce the harmful emission to air and to decrease the
need of fossil fuel [9,10].
Among the available renewable fuels for internal combustion
engines, ethanol has gained ample consideration in the last years
[11] (also for its current reduced production cost), so much that
nowadays ethanolgasoline blended fuel is one of the most broadly
employed alternative fuels used as a gasoline substitute for vehi-
cles, due to several factors [12]. First, ethanol is considered a
renewable and green fuel as a biomass fermentation and distilla-
tion product starting from a number of crops such as sugarcane,
potatoes, grains and corn, thus contributing to the reduction of
greenhouse gases (GHG). Secondly, ethanol is made up of a group
of chemical compounds whose molecules contain a hydroxyl group
and an ethyl group, bonded to a carbon atom [13]; so, the high oxy-
gen content of ethanol can promote the further combustion of
ethanolgasoline blend fuel within engine cylinders. In these con-
ditions, burning of ethanolgasoline blended fuels can reduce
emissions of carbon monoxide, and unburned hydrocarbon.
Thanks to its high octane number, ethanol may be a good addi-
tive for gasoline [14], and this may also improve engine perfor-
mance, in particular due to increased flammability and heat of
vaporization of ethanol blended fuels [15]. As for other oxygenated
fuels, HC and CO emission from ethanolgasoline mixtures in SI
engines are lower than traditional fuels, as confirmed in several
experimental research activities [16], so concluding that using
ethanolgasoline blended fuels can really decrease the air pollu-
tion and the dependency of fossil fuels.
183
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
However, for last generation SI engines actually only few data
are available in literature for showing the influence of ethanolga-
soline blended fuels on exhaust emissions during the cold start
transient. For the new vehicles equipped with electronic mixture
control and the three-way catalyst, in fact, CO and HC cold start
extra-emissions are deeply higher compared with those obtained
during thermally stable operation, due to several factors: thermal
inefficiency of the engine during the cold transient, partial com-
bustion, catalyst inefficiency and increased frictions.
This study aims to evaluate the impact of ethanol addition in
ethanolgasoline blended fuels on CO and HC cold extra-
emissions during the warming up process of a four-stroke motor-
cycle engine. An experimental-analytical investigation focusing
on this issue was performed on the basis of roller test bench mea-
surements executed at Istituto Motori of the National Research
Council (IM-CNR): emissions were evaluated in the exhaust of
one high-performance motorcycle of 1000 cm3 swept volume,
belonging to the Euro-3 legislative category and equipped with
an ECU (electronic control unit).
A new calculation procedure to model the cold start transient
behaviour of engines [17] has been optimized and applied for the
purpose of this investigation, in order to evaluate the values of
CO and HC cold start extra-emissions of this vehicle fuelled with
different blended fuels. Three ethanolgasoline blended fuels were
tested (10, 20 and 30 vol.%), and the results were then compared
with a commercial gasoline. By means of this methodology, a com-
prehensive assessment of the cold transient behaviour was per-
formed for the various tested mixtures, so determining for the
two pollutants: the total cold-start emissions produced during
the transient phase, the relevant time-dependence function, the
cold transient duration and the cold emission factors. Cold start
emissions of CO and HC obtained by using ethanolgasoline blends
decreased compared to commercial gasoline, in quantities depend-
ing on the particular ethanol percentage in the blended fuels, and
with the 20% ethanol blend that exhibited the highest emission
reduction.
This study derives also from the need to evaluate the impact on
the urban air quality of two-wheeler vehicular class, which nowa-
days are mostly used as popular means of daily moving in the
major European cities, where mopeds and motorcycles represent
a great proportion of motorized vehicles [18,19]. The relevance of
using ethanolgasoline blended fuels in SI engines is discussed also
in this particular context.
2. Literature review on properties of ethanol as fuel substitute
for SI engines
Ethanol (C2H5OH) is a low cost renewable ecological fuel, and it
can be produced biologically by using fermentation process from a
variety of sucrose-containing biomass sources (sugarcane, sugar
beet, fruit etc.) and starchy biomass sources (milo, corn, potato,
rice etc.). Ethanol is classified into two group: first generation
of ethanol that consists of both ethanol produced from sucrose-
containing biomass and ethanol produced from starchy biomass
with commercial technologies, and second generation of ethanol
produced from lignocellulosic biomass (wood, straw and grasses)
with technologies which are under industrial demonstration [1].
184 P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190
The quality of engine combustion, engine performance and
emissive behaviour are closely dependent on the physical and
chemical properties of fuels. In regard to ethanol and gasoline,
these properties are shown and compared in Table 1; by analysing
of this table, for some of these properties it is possible to make the
following observations and differences between the two fuels.
Density: Density affects fuel atomization quality and combus-
tion efficiency. Ethanol density is higher than gasoline and this
causes higher pressure drop and a reduction of fuel mass flow rate
injected by volumetric-operating pump [2].
Viscosity: Ethanol viscosity is higher than gasoline. This affects
the fuel atomization, generating higher droplet diameters and
altering the jet penetration. Consequently the quality of the com-
bustion process worsens and exhaust emission increases [20].
Heating value: Heating value (net calorific value) of a fuel influ-
ences the power output of an engine directly. Heating value of
ethanol is approximately 1/3 times lower than that of gasoline;
thus, to achieve same engine power output, more amount fuel is
required for ethanol. This feature indicates that the heating value
of the ethanolgasoline blended fuel will decrease with the
increase of the ethanol content [21]; therefore, ethanolgasoline
blends have higher fuel consumption as compared to gasoline [22].
Latent Heat of vaporization: Ethanol is characterized by a higher
heat of vaporization than gasoline. This aspect makes the temper-
ature of the intake manifold lower, because ethanol requires more
heat to evaporate, so increasing the volumetric efficiency of the
engine, that is function of the temperature. Besides, higher heat
of vaporization improves knock resistance of the engine [22]. How-
ever, a higher heat of vaporization could cause lower combustion
temperature and burning velocity, and then higher CO and HC
emissions.
Research Octane Number: Research octane number (RON) of
ethanol is higher than gasoline, therefore it is characterized by
the ability to withstand high pressures and temperatures before
detonating. As the efficiency of SI engines depends on the compres-
sion ratio (and a fuel with high octane number is particularly
appropriate for high compression ratios), the use of ethanol in a
SI engine can improve energy efficiency [23].
Oxygen content: The oxygen content in ethanol (34.7 wt%)
favours combustion efficiency and high combustion temperature
of ethanolgasoline blended fuels, due to more oxygen concentra-
tion provided within engine cylinders for a more complete com-
bustion process (leaning effect), so reducing the emission levels
of CO and HC.
Reid vapour pressure: The Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) of ethanol
(17 kPa) is very lower than that of gasoline (53.7 kPa), and then
the resulting lower volatility can cause difficult cold start transient
of the engine during the warm-up phase. However, the ethanol
gasoline mixture is not characterized by a RVP value linearly pro-
portional to the percentage of ethanol in the blends, as it will be
better explained in the next paragraph.
Table 1
Properties of gasoline and ethanol [1,4749].
Property Gasoline Ethanol
C-fraction (mass%) 87.4 52.2
O-fraction (mass%) 0 34.7
Density (kg/m3) 750760 785810
Stoichiometric air/fuel ratio () 14.215.0 9.0
Kinematic viscosity (mm2/s) 0.5 1.3
Reid vapor pressure (RVP) (kPa) 5360 17
Research octan number (RON) () 91100 110
Lower heating value (MJ/kg) 44.0 27.0
Latent heat vaporization (kJ/kg) 380400 910
Stoichiometric air/fuel ratio: The stoichiometric airfuel-ratio of
ethanol is 1.6 times lower than that of gasoline. When ethanol is
added to blended fuel for a SI engine, since the amount of air intake
remains constant (at fixed engine speed and at fixed throttle valve
opening), in order to obtain the same air/fuel equivalence ratio, the
electronic mixture control increases the volume flow rate of etha-
nolgasoline blend, so producing the leaning effect [1]. In fuel-rich
conditions, besides, the leaner effect produced by oxygen content
of ethanol shifts the air/fuel ratio to stoichiometric value, then
improving the combustion process [24].
2.1. Correlations between ethanolgasoline blends and exhaust
emissions
While the use of pure ethanol needs some modifications to SI
engines, low percentages of ethanol in ethanolgasoline blended
fuels are regularly used without any change of the engine design.
For this reason, the use of ethanolgasoline blends containing 3
10 vol.% ethanol has been promoted in the last decade in many
industrialized countries [12], and many researchers analysed the
correlations between ethanolgasoline blended fuels and the
exhaust pollutant emissions. All these studies explained that using
ethanolgasoline blended fuels can reduce the exhaust emissions
of CO and HC from passenger cars equipped with SI engine
[21,25,26].
Regarding HC exhaust emissions, in some experimental studies
[27], significant reductions were revealed with the addition of
alcohols in fuel blends; the decrease of HC emissions was caused
by high oxygen content in alcohol and leaning effect that improves
the combustion efficiency. Moreover, in other studies a substantial
reduction of HC emissions was detected with the addition of 10
vol.% ethanol in ethanolgasoline blends as result of higher oxygen
content [28]. Besides, faster flame speed of alcohol compared to
gasoline can enhance complete combustion of ethanolgasoline
blends; this aspect results in lower HC exhaust emissions [29].
Other experimental studies revealed that the addition of alcohols
reduces the HC emission level, particularly at higher engine speed
(6000 rpm), because the air/fuel mix homogenises at high engine
speed; under these operative conditions the in-cylinder tempera-
ture increases, so improving the combustion efficiency [30].
Also CO emissions in SI engines are affected by the content of
oxygen in ethanolgasoline blends. The presence of oxygen in
these fuel blends efficiently improves both the combustion and
the leaning effect in rich mixtures and then it is capable to reduce
CO exhaust emission levels [25,31,32]. Analogous results were
obtained by other studies, in which the CO emissions were reduced
with the addition of alcohol in gasoline [33,34]. In addition, the
decrease of CO emission level can be also caused by faster flame
speed of ethanol that increases combustion efficiency [22,35].
Other testing and experimental studies investigated the influ-
ence of ethanolgasoline blended fuels on emissive behaviour of
two-wheelers. In particular, Jia performed several tests on a four-
stroke motorcycle engine (125 cm3 without catalytic converter),
burning 10% ethanol blended gasoline, registering for reduced CO
and HC emission with respect to unblended gasoline, but similar
levels for NOx production [13]. Yao executed a series of tests on
a similar displacement motorcycle four stroke engine varying the
ethanol blending percentage from 3% to 20% v/v, and keeping the
research octane number (RON) at 95 as for common gasoline.
The higher oxygen content in fuel, the lower CO and NOX emissions
but he did not register for a THC emission reduction with ethanol
blending. Moreover he found that too high ethanol blending did
not involve higher emission reduction which had its optimum
around 15% blends [16]. Yang tested emissions from nine four-
stroke motorcycles equipped with carburettor system and the
same two way catalyst. Burning 3% ethanol blended gasoline, he
 P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190
registered for and emission decrease of 20% for CO and 5.27% for
THC, while NOX and CO2 emission increased by 5.22% and 2.57%
respectively [14].
2.2. Engine performance within the cold start transient and the effect
of ethanolgasoline blends
In recent years, advances in internal combustion engines (such
as the common rail, the adoption of improved lubricants, the
development of the control electronics and the use of catalytic con-
verters) allowed to reduce considerably both fuel consumption and
pollutants emission. These relate definitely steady operation of the
engines, but there is still some way to go with regard to engine
cold- starting, the phase in which the environmental performance
are not optimal due to low temperature of engine components and
lubricants [36,37].
Anyway, fuel consumption and emission levels are higher dur-
ing the cold-start phase of the engine with respect to running con-
dition. This occurs mainly for the following reasons.
Partial combustion: In the cold-start phase, engine components
are not yet at the operation temperature. In particular, the fuel
can condense on the cool walls of the inlet manifold and the cylin-
der. It is therefore necessary to increase the supply of fuel to sup-
port combustion and drivability. The engine then works in
conditions of rich combustion and consequently concentration of
CO and unburned hydrocarbons to the exhaust increase [36].
Catalyst inefficiency: The oxidation-reduction reactions occur-
ring in the three-way catalyst reach the maximum conversion effi-
ciency (99% for CO and 95% for HC) when combustion evolves at
stoichiometric conditions and when the light-off temperatures of
the catalyst is around 300 C. These conditions are not guaranteed
in the warm- up, reducing the conversion efficiency.
Increased friction: During warm-up, lubricants temperature it is
lower than optimal (100110 C) and thus their viscosity is higher
than normal operation condition. This entails higher friction
between moving components and hence a lower efficiency of the
engine [38].
With regard to the effect of ethanolgasoline blend on the cold
start transient of a SI engine, it is important to make the following
assumptions. As already specified, the Reid Vapor Pressure of etha-
nol is very lower than that of gasoline, and then the resulting lower
volatility can cause difficult cold transient of the engine during the
warm-up phase. Nevertheless, the ethanolgasoline blended fuels
doesnt have a RVP value that ranges linearly with the percentage
of ethanol in the blends; in fact, with growing of ethanol content,
at first the RVP of the blended fuel rises to reach a maximal value
at about 15% v/v of ethanol addition (so facilitating the cold-start),
while after, at higher ethanol percentages, the RVP declines [39].
Instead, vaporization of ethanol needs twice the energy
required by gasoline, and consequently this property can affect
the minimal starting temperature of SI engines powered with etha-
nolgasoline blends [40]. Therefore, higher heat of vaporization of
ethanol leads to complications with engine start-up including
when a running cold engine particularly during winter months
owing to the cooling effect of the air/fuel mix [22,41].
An interesting research analysed and compared the effect of dif-
ferent ethanolgasoline blended fuels (from 10 to 40 vol.% of etha-
nol) on cold-start extra emissions of a SI engine; the pertinent
results indicated clearly lower CO and HC cold emissions as com-
pared to the use of unleaded gasoline [42]. However, nowadays
not much is known concerning the emissive behaviour of last gen-
eration SI engines equipped with an ECU and powered with etha-
nolgasoline mixtures during the cold transient. An expansion of
the relevant knowledge is necessary: this is precisely the purpose
of the present study.
185
3. Material and methods
3.1. The vehicle
The main characteristics of the vehicle employed in the test ser-
ies are summarized in Table 2. This high-performance motorcycle
is equipped with a four-stroke engine and with a displacement of
1000 cm3. It belongs to Euro-3 legislative category; a three-way
catalytic converter is used as closed loop exhaust after-treatment
control system.
This motorcycle is fitted with a very efficient electronic fuel
injection system, allowing the control of fuel feeding and enhanc-
ing catalyst efficiency also in cold transient; the on-board ECU con-
trols the fuel injection strategy with feedback signal from the
lambda probe oxygen sensor, that is placed in the exhaust pipe.
In this conditions the influence of ethanol addition on the pollutant
emissions was investigated for all the tested fuels under the origi-
nal fuel injection strategy [17].
Besides, previous analyses of combustion process were per-
formed by analysing the in-cylinder pressure behaviour and the
main engine parameters when varying the fuel blends; no signifi-
cantly differences were detected on the pressure gradient during
the compression and combustion phases. By examining of some
on-board diagnostic (OBD) parameters during 120 km/h steady-
state test, the ethanol addition in the blended fuel effected the
injection time, which rises slowly as the ethanol percentage
increases in the testing fuels. Regarding the spark advance, the
engine ECU doesnt modify this parameter for low percentages
(<30%) of ethanol in ethanolgasoline blended fuels.
3.2. Testing fuels
Five testing fuels were used in the experimental activity. The
characteristics of all tested fuels are shown in Table 3. First fuel
(E0) is commercial gasoline with oxygenated additive (8.1% v/v)
and a research octane number (RON) of 95.5. Second fuel is
unleaded gasoline without any oxygenated additive (G0), that is
also used as a reference and base fuel for the composition of etha-
nolgasoline blends; the other fuels (G10, G20, G30) are ethanol
gasoline blends containing 10%, 20% and 30% ethanol v/v, respec-
tively. The ethanol used for the composition of these blends is
anhydrous. This Table clearly shows that the addition of ethanol
to base fuel G0 increases the research octane number, density,
and oxygen content, while decreases the carbon content and the
heating value of the ethanolgasoline blended fuels.
3.3. The laboratory
Roller test bench measurements were executed in the Istituto
Motori of the National Research Council (IM-CNR); the motorcycle
under investigation was tested on a two-wheeler chassis
dynamometer (AVL Zollner 2000single roller), which simulates
vehicle inertia and road load resistance (Fig. 1). The bench is
Table 2
Technical characteristics of the tested vehicle.
Engine and displacement (cm3) 4-stroke, 998
Fuel system Integrated electronic engine management
system
Cooling system Liquid cooling
Maximum power (kW) @ 105.2
10,000 rpm
Weight (kg) 189
After-treatment control system Three-way catalytic converter with lambda
sensor
European emissive standard Euro-3
186 P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190

Table 3 enrichments of the fuelair ratio. The second phase is character-

Characteristics of tested fuels. ized by declining cold emissions for the gradual rise of catalyst
Tested fuels E0 G0 G10 G20 G30 and engine temperatures and for the lower enrichments of the
Density (kg/m )3
730 745 750 755 760 mixture ratio. The last rather stable phase is characterized by the
Hi (MJ/kg) 44.30 44.30 42.30 40.47 38.50 lowest cold emissions when the normal operating temperatures
RON 95.5 94.7 96.7 98.8 100.8 are achieved and the mixture ratio is very near to the stoichiomet-
Carbon content (wt%) 86.56 86.56 81.20 76.47 71.97 ric airfuel ratio.
Oxygen content (wt%) 1.8 0.0 5.4 10.2 14.4
Benzene content (vol.%) 0.67 0.83 0.75 0.66 0.58
With these premises and assumptions, extra emissions during
Aromatic content (vol.%) 33.3 33.7 30.3 27.0 23.6 operation of the cold-start engine can be modelled by a cold
instantaneous emission factor fcold(t), represented by the time-
dependence function of Eq. (1). This function satisfies the two
arranged to reproduce the road load condition and to measure the boundary conditions represented by Eqs. (2) and (3); on the basis
exhaust emissions during dynamic speed cycles. By using this of the previous assumptions, in fact, this function must always
chassis dynamometer, it is too possible to carry out experimental be decreasing during the transient duration, and the fist derivative
tests in constant speed mode, constant tractive force mode and is equal to zero at the end of the cold transient duration.


constant acceleration mode. Besides, a variable speed blower, posi- t t
tioned in front of the vehicle, acted as the cooling wind on the road. f cold t f 0 eT reg  e  g=s 1
T reg
A drivers aid displayed speed trace of the driving cycle to follow
with a tolerance of 1 km/h. f cold T reg 0 2
Each experimental tests was performed in cold-start conditions
and, for each blended fuels, the motorcycle was kept at a relatively 0
f cold T reg 0 3
constant temperature around 20 C for at least 6 h. During the
experimental tests, the exhaust gases of the motorcycle were The cold instantaneous emission function in Eq. (1) is expressed
diluted with filtered ambient air by a Constant Volume Sampling through two parameters: Treg, that is the cold transient duration,
with Critical Flow Venturi (AVL CFV-CVS) unit. A dilution tunnel and f0, that is the value of function (1) at the first instant
is positioned upstream the sampling for gas analysis, in order to (namely: f0 = fcold(t = 0)). For the calculation of the these two
guarantee stable flow condition. A part of diluted exhaust was parameters, information on cold-start extra emissions and on the
sampled downstream the dilution tunnel for continuously measur- cold transient phase must be identified. By processing the experi-
ing the concentrations of CO and HC, by a flame ionization detector mental exhaust emissions during the cold start, the experimental
analyser (FID) and a non-dispersive infrared analyser (NDIR) of an curve of total cumulative emissions is obtained in function of the
exhaust gas analysis system (AVL AMA 4000). The only correction time for each investigated pollutant; the contribution of hot emis-
made to the signals is that of the delay with respect to the speed. sions on these cumulative curves can be fitted with a linear regres-
sion, that is characterized by high correlation coefficients. The
3.4. Modelling the cold start transient duration Treg of the cold duration is calculated as the instant in
which the curve of the cumulative emissions diverges from the lin-
In previous publications [17,23,43] a methodology was pre- ear regression. Besides, in order to set the parameter f0, the exper-
sented to model the cold-start transient behaviour. In the present imental and analytical curves of the cold cumulative extra
study this calculation procedure is optimized and applied in order emission must be achieved: the experimental curve is obtained
to evaluate the levels of CO and HC cold start extra-emissions of through the total cumulative curve of emissions (already
the vehicle under examination fuelled with different blended fuels. defined) by subtracting the hot phase linear regression during
Cold-start extra emissions during the transient duration of the the transient duration. The analytical curve, on the other hand, is
engine can be characterized by a cold instantaneous emission fac- calculated by integration of the function fcold(t) (Eq. (1)), so finding
tor fcold(t), expressed as mass per time unit and by considering the the analytical function expressed in Eq. (4). Parameter f0 is chosen
subsequent assumptions. The shape of the cold instantaneous so that the analytical function fits the experimental curve.
emission fcold(t) along time, for a certain pollutant, can be split up Z

t t e  t2
into three different phases. The first phase of the transient is char- E cold t f cold tdt f 0 T reg  eT reg   T reg g 4
0 2T reg
acterized by the maximum cold-start emissions due to the lower cum
temperatures of engine, lubricant and catalyst and to the greatest

Fig. 1. The experimental apparatus.

 P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190 187

The total cold-start extra emissions produced during the tran-
sient time are calculated by employing the analytical function of
the cold cumulative emissions (Eq. (4)) for t = Treg, so achieving EC
(Eq. (5)). The cold emission factors ecold are calculated in terms of
mass per time unit as in Eq. (6), dividing the total cold-start emis-
sions EC of each pollutant (Eq. (5)) by the pertinet cold transient
duration Treg.
e 
EC E cold t T reg f 0  T reg  1 g
2 fuels will be explained in the next subsections.
cum
e  sive behaviour of the motorcycle under investigation in cold oper-
EC
ecold f0   1 g=s
T reg 2 the calculated cold emission factors (displayed in Fig. 5) can be
4. Results and discussion
In order to evaluate the influence of different ethanolgasoline
mixtures on the relevant cold extra emissions, the experimental
test procedure measured exhaust emissions during UDC driving
cycle for the following testing fuels: unleaded gasoline (E0),
unleaded gasoline without oxygenated additive (G0), and three
ethanolgasoline blends containing 10% (G10), 20% (G20), and
30% ethanol (G30), v/v. By employing the calculation procedure
previously summarised, therefore, we used these engine test facil-
ities to investigate the effects of various blend rates of ethanolga-
soline mixtures on CO and HC emissions during the cold start
transient.
Comprehensive information on the cold start transient for dif-
ferent tested fuels were derived by applying the analytical proce-
dure above presented. In Fig. 2 the experimental cold cumulative
extra emissions of CO and HC along time during UDC driving cycle
are reported for the five tested fuels. In Fig. 3, CO and HC cold
instantaneous extra emissions fcold(t) corresponding to these fuels
are represented by the time-dependence functions calculated
through the use of Eq. (1). In Fig. 4 the total cold-start extra emis-
sions of CO and HC produced during the cold transient are first cal-
culated by applying Eq. (5), and then plotted against the oxygen
content of all testing fuels. In Fig. 5 the cold-start emission factors
of CO and HC, expressed in terms of grams per kilometer, are
obtained by applying Eq. (6) and knowing the average speed of
the UDC driving cycle during the transient time.
The cold transient durations Treg can be derived by analysing the
time-dependent functions represented in Fig. 3 (in fact these func-
tions are equal to zero for t = Treg); it is evident that the cold tran-
sient durations Treg, calculated according to this procedure, are
equal to around 160 s for CO and 180 s for HC for all the testing
fuels. Detailed considerations about the total cold-start emissions
5 produced during the transient phase corresponding to the testing
All these results show exhaustive information on the cold emis-
ative conditions and fuelled with different test fuels. In this regard,
6
used to evaluate the environmental impact of last generation
motorcycles during cold operative conditions and fuelled with
ethanolgasoline blended fuels. In general, regional and national
emission inventories of the air pollutants from the road transport
sector can be assessed by using the COPERT methodology
[44,45]. Consequently, the results obtained in this study can
improve the COPERT database of emission factors for motorized
two-wheelers fuelled with the same examined test fuels. There-
fore, these results are very useful also in order to simulate several
emissive scenarios in urban contexts characterized by high pollu-
tion density, assuming that a portion or the whole vehicle category
to which the tested vehicle belongs (Euro 3 motorcycle) is fuelled
with ethanolgasoline blended fuels.
4.1. Carbon monoxide
Partial combustion is usually the cause behind the formation of
carbon monoxide emissions in engine, which increase closely lin-
early with deviations from the stoichiometric value; CO formation,
in fact, depends mostly on air/fuel mixture equivalence ratio. For
all the tested fuels, cold-start extra emissions of CO increased in
comparison with the levels recorded for steady engine operation
for catalyst inefficiency and incomplete combustion due to mixture
enrichment.
With regard to CO cold emissions, as it is described in Fig. 4, the
difference between G0 and E0 test fuels is not very significant, due
to small difference in oxygen content among them (1.8 wt%) and

12 2.50
11
2.25
10
2.00
CO cold cumulative emission [g]

HC cold cumulative emission [g]

9
1.75
8

7 1.50

6 1.25
5
1.00
4 Unleaded Gasoline Unleaded Gasoline
0.75
3 G0 G0
G10 0.50 G10
2
G20 G20
1 0.25
G30 G30
0 0.00
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time [s] Time [s]
Fig. 2. Experimental CO and HC cold cumulative extra emissions during UDC driving cycle for different tested fuels.
188 P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190

0.22 0.040

0.20
0.035
CO cold istantaneous emissions [g/s]

HC cold istantaneous emissions [g/s]

0.18 Unleaded gasoline
Unleaded Gasoline G0
0.030
0.16 G0 G10
0.14 G10 G20
0.025
G20 G30
0.12
G30 0.020
0.10

0.08 0.015

0.06 0.010
0.04
0.005
0.02

0.00 0.000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Time [s] Time [s]
Fig. 3. Calculated CO and HC cold instantaneous emissions during UDC driving cycle for different testing fuels.

11.5 2.8

11.0
E0 G30
2.6
G0
10.5 GO 2.4
CO Cold extra emissions [g]

HC Cold extra emissions [g]

10.0
2.2
9.5 G30
2.0
9.0 G10
G10 1.8
8.5
1.6
8.0

7.5 1.4
E0 G20
G20
7.0 1.2

6.5 1.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Oxygen content [wt %] Oxygen content [wt %]
Fig. 4. CO and HC total cold emissions during UDC driving cycle plotted against the oxygen content of testing fuels.

also considering the effect of different ambient air conditions on The decrease of CO cold-start extra emissions compared to com-
CO cold emissions. For the other blended fuels instead, the signif- mercial gasoline E0 and reference fuel G0 is substantial in the case
icant reduction of CO cold-start emissions during the transient of G10 and G20 tested fuels (9.2 g and 7.4 g respectively): under
time is linked to the rise of ethanol content in the ethanolgasoline the fuel-lean conditions, in fact, these ethanolgasoline blended
blends. Lower CO cold start emissions were detected for ethanol fuels supply more oxygen during the cold transient for more com-
gasoline blends in comparison with commercial gasoline E0 and plete and efficient combustion process.
base fuel G0, since the oxygen in ethanol molecule promotes the However, G30 blended fuel is characterised by higher CO cold
oxidation of CO in the combustion chamber. With the addition of start extra emission then G10 and G20 blends, because with the
ethanol in the mixtures, in fact, the oxygen content of the blends addition of ethanol in the blends, as well explained by Masum
increases as well, and this aspect helps to rise the oxygen-to-fuel [1], the heating value decreases and the latent heat of evaporation
ratio in the fuel rich regions of engine, improving the combustion increases, simultaneously, so resulting in low combustion temper-
process and thus decreasing carbon monoxide emission [11]. ature and burning velocity which lead to incomplete combustion
We remember that in the open-loop control, which character- process and therefore to higher CO cold-start extra emissions.
izes the cold transient duration of this engine, the fuel injection
strategy of this engine was the same for all fuels. Since the stoi- 4.2. Unburned hydrocarbons
chiometric air/fuel ratios for ethanol and gasoline are around 9
and 14.7 respectively (Table 1), the quantity of air required to cre- Fig. 4 shows evidently that, by comparing G0 and E0 test fuels, a
ate fuel rich conditions during the cold transient for commercial small oxygen content in the fuel is more effective in decreasing of
gasoline (E0) is too much high for ethanol/gasoline blended fuels, unburned hydrocarbons cold emissions compared to carbon
and then decreasing CO cold emissions. monoxide. In fact, HC cold-start extra emission detected on the

17
16
E0
CO Cold emission factor [g/km]
15
14
GO
13
12
11
G10
10
9 E0
8 1.2
7 1.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Oxygen content [wt %]
Fig. 5. CO and HC cold emission factors during UDC driving cycle plotted against the oxygen content of testing fuels.
tested motorcycle for commercial gasoline E0 (1.38 g) is much
lower as related to the GO reference fuel (2.50 g), since the oxygen
content of additive in the commercial gasoline causes the reaction
to move towards more complete combustion, so reducing
unburned hydrocarbons [1].
In the same figure is also evident that HC cold start emissions
decrease in comparison with G0 base fuel when ethanol fraction
increases, but only until a certain concentration of ethanol in the
ethanolgasoline blends. During the cold transient, in fact, the oxy-
gen content in the ethanolgasoline blended fuels is more effective
in improving oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons compared to G0
reference fuel; with increasing of ethanol in the blended fuels, in
fact, the actual air/fuel ratio approaches from rich to stoichiometric
values, and thus combustion process becomes more efficient, so
increasing the in-cylinder temperature and decreasing the HC cold
emissions during the transient time.
Besides, as already explained in the previous paragraphs, as
ethanol percentage in the ethanolgasoline blended fuel arises, at
first the RVP rises to reach a maximal value at around 15% v/v of
ethanol fraction (so easing the cold-start), while after, at higher
ethanol percentages, the RVP declines [43]; therefore, high volatil-
ity of G20 ethanolgasoline blend enhances fuel vaporization dur-
ing the cold start transient, so decreasing the formation of HC cold
emissions in the first engine cycles [46].
On the other hand, G30 blend fuel shows HC cold emissions
(2.0 g) higher than the G10 and G20 blends, and this feature can
be attributed to several reasons. First, for higher ethanol percent-
age (>20% v/v) the volatility of G30 blend fuel is lower than G10
and G20 blends. Second, greater concentrations of ethanol in the
mixtures reduce the heating value and increase the latent heat
vaporization of the blended fuels, simultaneously, so reducing
the flame temperature which led to the increase of HC emission
levels during the cold start. Lastly, as explained in detail by Yao
[16], if a SI engine operates with actual air/fuel ratios over a certain
lean limit during the cold transient time, partial combustion could
occur, leading to numerous misfires and then with resulting
increased HC cold emissions. Conceivably, although this motorcy-
cle is equipped with an electronic mixture control of fuel injection
system, the volume flow rate of ethanolgasoline blend could not
be tuned closely according to the actual combustion condition; this
aspect also results in incomplete combustion and then in higher
HC cold start emissions of G30 blend fuel then the G10 and G20
blends [23].
P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190 189
2.8
2.6
G0
HC Cold emission factor [g/km]
2.4
2.2
G30
2.0 G30
G10
1.8
1.6
G20
1.4 G20
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Oxygen content [wt %]
5. Conclusions
In the last decades renewable energy sources are becoming
more and more vital for road transport sector all over the word,
due to the limited reserves of fossil fuels and environmental mat-
ters. The rapid industrialization, in fact, has increased the demand
of fossil fuels more than ever, but fossil fuels reserves are deplet-
ing. Ethanol is one of the alternative fuels which was used in sev-
eral countries for several years as it is produced from renewable
sources and can lead cleaner emission.
In this study, the influence of ethanolgasoline blended fuels
was investigated on cold emissive behaviour of a last generation
four-stroke SI engine. In the experimental tests CO and HC emis-
sions were measured in the exhaust of a high-performance motor-
cycles, belonging to the Euro-3 legislative category. The cold-start
extra emissions of CO and HC were evaluated by improving and
applying a methodology focused on the cold transient behaviour
of engines, and were examined in relation to the oxygen content
of testing fuels. The results obtained in this study show clearly that
using ethanolgasoline blends, CO and HC cold-start extra emis-
sions decrease with increases in ethanol concentration, until 20%
v/v ethanol content, because more ethanol in the blends supplies
additional oxygen during the cold transient for more efficient com-
bustion process in the fuel rich regions of engine. Besides, the
higher volatility of the 20% ethanol blend improves fuel vaporiza-
tion during the transient time, thus decreasing CO and HC cold
emission levels.
On the other hand, higher ethanol concentration blend (30% v/v
ethanol content) was characterized by higher CO and HC cold
emissions than those of lower content blends, because with even
more ethanol in the blends, the heating value decreases while
the latent heat of evaporation increases, so resulting in lower com-
bustion temperature and burning velocity, leading to partial com-
bustion process. Besides, for higher ethanol percentage (>15% v/v)
the volatility of blend fuel decreases, and over a definite lean limit,
partial combustion could happen during the cold transient time,
leading to numerous misfires and then with resulting increased
cold emissions. Therefore, the 20% ethanol blend had the highest
reductions of CO and HC cold emissions relative to the reference
fuel. The results obtained in this study can be very useful to draw
up national emission inventories from road transport sector, in
order to evaluate the environmental impact of last generation
motorcycles fuelled with ethanolgasoline blended fuels.
190 P. Iodice et al. / Applied Energy 179 (2016) 182190
Acknowledgements
The authors of this paper thank the colleagues of Istituto Motori
of the National Research Council (CNR-Italy) for the assistance in
performing experimental tests.
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