Numerical and Experimental Study of the Spark Ignition Engine Performance Using Different Types of Liquid and Gaseous Fuels

ABSTRACT Different fuels result in significant variations in physical and chemical properties, which directly affect combustion characteristics, performance efficiency, and emission levels. This study aims to conduct an experimental and numerical study on the effect of fuel‐type variation on the spark ignition (SI) engine performance represented by BP, , BSFC, and BTE as well as emissions of CO, CO 2 , and NO x . Experimentally, a single‐cylinder SI engine was tested using gasoline, a blend of 10% ethanol + 90% gasoline (E10), LPG, and biogas under full load conditions and different operating speeds (1200–3600 rpm). Numerically, Lotus Engine Simulation (v.6.01a) was used to simulate engine performance, and there was good agreement with the experimental results. The experimental results showed that gasoline fuel had the highest BP and BTE, while BSFC was lower than other fuels. For gasoline fuel, BP increased by 4.19%, 9.16%, and 25.2%, respectively, and BTE increased by 3.14%, 6%, and 10.4%, respectively, while BSFC decreased by 11%, 19.5%, and 32.5%, respectively, compared to E10, LPG, and biogas. As for emissions, it was observed that CO and CO 2 emissions decreased by 12%, 25%, and 49.5%, respectively, and 3%, 5%, and 13%, respectively, for E10, LPG, and biogas compared to gasoline. Whereas the NO x emissions for gasoline decreased by 6.4% compared to LPG, while increasing by 7% and 20.2% compared to E10 and biogas, respectively. This study was characterized by previous studies by evaluating the performance and emissions of an SI engine using Iraqi fuels of different compositions.