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Alcohol-Diesel Technology:

Recent advances IIT Madras is credited with research on the use of alcohol as a sole fuel. Ignition of alcohol on catalytically activated surfaces in the combustion chamber has enabled its use as a sole fuel. Many results of collaborative work of IIT Madras and Santa Clara University as well as the Technical University at Aachen, Germany have become an important source of reference for research.

Detroit diesel engines, working on two-stroke principle, used another novel method for force-igniting methanol by hot exhaust gases held back and trapped by partially closing the gate of the turbocharger (recently, this method was also extended to ignite CNG in the diesel engine). MAN diesel buses were tried on neat methanol by hot surface ignition -- a method favored by researchers at IIT, Madras. Proof R. K. Pefley, director of Alcohol Energy System, Inc, invited the Indian team to exchange their experiences with the US efforts.

The Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, took a leading role in exchange of alcohol fuel technology in several workshops conducted by them in collaboration with IIT Madras and the Santa Clara University. Making emulsions of ethanol in diesel fuel by the use of surfactants is an accepted practice in Sweden. Ethanol with ignition improvers has now become an established bus fuel. The Swedish company, Sekab, works in these areas and manufactures this fuel, called Etamax-D, as a sole fuel. Blends of 85 per cent diesel and 15 per cent ethanol under the proprietary name Etamix-D are also made.

In sum, ethanol fuels and ethanol blends are environmentally clean fuels derived from renewable sources such as sugar-cane, molasses and cellulose from bagasse. India can well start diesel-alcohol programs on fleet buses, locomotives and stationary engines using the skills and potential of the IITs, IIP and the universities. Expertise developed in India is already being used in other parts of the world! (The author, a retired IIT professor, is a former consultant to Alcohol Fuel Systems, Inc., California.)

To use ethanol in a diesel engine is not as hard as most people would make you think. The following are simple SUGGESTIONS for you to follow in your experiments.

1. Ethanol will burn in a diesel engine when boosted with hydrogen. A small on board hydrogen generator should be sufficient to make this work. (See our HyZor (Basic) Kit at this link.)

2. You can mix ethanol with diesel fuel IF you add some castor oil (Apr. 20%) or bio diesel ( approx.1%) with it. Adding castor also allows the ethanol to have 4% water in it.

3. Add some cetane improvers to the alcohol. For example,isoamyl nitrate, diethyl nitrate, and ethylene glycol nitrate.

4. Try routing a extra oil line from the crankcase into the fuel injector
pump via and extra oil filter. It will take around 0.1% of your oil so there will be no big oil loss. (An Ampco Lubrication System may work for this)

5. Another option would be a dual fuel injection system. Volvo has a dual injection system which injects 80% alcohol by one injector and 20% diesel by another injector. With 50% water in the alcohol the power loss is only 9.5%

6. A fumigation/vaporization system is one that introduces the alcohol into the air stream. This is a common system on many Brazilian and Chinese tractors. Almost no alcohol is used at idle but when under load 50% of the diesel is replaced by 140 proof alcohol.

7. Use a vaporized alcohol fuel engine.