Cold start and fuel consumption of a vehicle fuelled with blends of diesel oil–soybean biodiesel–ethanol

Fuel consumption and cold start characteristics of a production vehicle fuelled with blends of N. 2 diesel oil (500 ppm sulfur content), soybean biodiesel (3%, 5%, 10%, and 20%) and hydrous ethanol (2% and 5%) were compared. A wagon-type vehicle equipped with a four-cylinder, 1.3-l, 63 kW diesel engine was tested in a cold chamber at the temperature of −5 °C for the cold start tests. Fuel consumption tests were performed following the 1975 US Federal Test Procedure (FTP-75). The results showed that the cold start time was satisfactory for all fuel blends tested, but it was longer for the blend containing 20% of soybean biodiesel (B20) in comparison with the blends with lower biodiesel concentration. The cold start time also increased with increasing with increasing ethanol content in the fuel blend. Specific fuel consumption was not affected by increasing biodiesel concentration in the blend or by the use of 2% of ethanol as an additive. However, the use of 5% of ethanol concentration in the B20 blend resulted in increased specific fuel consumption.