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Currently, several studies are being carried out to replace diesel oil with alternative fuels in compression ignition engines. Ethanol is a strong candidate, thanks to its extensive feedstock, low emissions and low cost. Although it also has easy adaptability to engine technologies, there are some difficulties that need to be eliminated regarding its direct use in compression ignition engines (diesel cycle). The present work aims to evaluate the ignition delay of ethanol/peg 600 blends in a four-stroke compression-ignition engine, in relation to maximum pressure and maximum rate of pressure rise under different experimental conditions. Parameters such as engine speed, load and compression ratio, in addition to fuel injection advance and percentage of additive were analyzed. For this study, a code was developed in Matlab computer software capable of analyze data collected through Indicon-AVL, to tests carried out at the Institute of Mobility and Sustainable Energy (IMES - PUC-Rio).

The world recognizes that the main source of energy used in transportation is diesel oil since it is economical and efficient; however, unfortunately, it is not a renewable resource and pollutes the environment. Today, although n-butanol has been used in blends with diesel oil with great results, there is still dependence on the use of fossil fuels. Hence, the effects of n-butanol as an ignition improver for hydrous ethanol were studied for its properties and the fact that this fuel alcohol may be produced by renewable sources, making it possible to replace diesel oil with a biofuel. To study the combustion characteristics of the ethanol/n-butanol blend, a rapid compression machine was used under different test conditions (compression ratio and start of injection). The mass fractions of n-butanol used in the blends were 10% and 15%, and the test results were compared with those of other fuels, i.e., diesel oil S10 and an ethanol/additive blend, developed by SEKAB and named ED95.

This study presents the evaluation of the energy efficiency of a series hybrid electric vehicle through the theoretical development of two electric propulsion systems and an experimental study of fuel consumption of the original vehicle. The experimental analysis was done by a test setting, consisting mainly of a chassis dynamometer, an autopilot system and a fuel flowmeter, all connected to the data acquisition system. In this study it was developed two theoretical models of propulsion systems for Series - HEV. The first one consists of four in-wheel motors and the second one consists of two in-wheel motors on the rear axle. There are various methods for embedding a motor in the wheel. It is necessary to consider the weight, power and transmission efficiency. In the theoretical model it was considered a cycloidal reducer, which allows a reduction of 3:1 to 119:1 in one stage with an efficiency of 93%, together with a brushless DC motor, which has a high power density.