Comparative Analysis of Fuel Economy of B30 and B20 Fuels in Passenger Vehicles

Abstract

The higher biodiesel content blended into diesel fuel gives the lower calorific value that may affect the fuel economy. To determine the effect of using 30% biodiesel mixed in diesel fuel (B30) compared to B20, especially on fuel economy in automotive vehicles, a road test was conducted using 4 brands of passenger vehicles for 50,000 km. The daily route of this road test consisted of 10.6% of general road, 49.9% of climbing-downhill road, and 39.5 % of highway road, which covers a distance of 560 km per day. The method used in this study for fuel economy analysis is the full-to-full method, by comparing the fuel consumption of B30 and B20 in two vehicles in each brand (8 cars in total). Based on the test results, statistically, in testing the fuel economy with full to full method, population of data used has been normally distributed and homogeneous. In Passenger1 and Passenger4 vehicles, the average fuel economy value of B30 is 6.7% and 3.7% higher than the B20’s, while in vehicles Passenger2 and Passenger3, the average fuel economy value of B20 is 1.5% and 3.9% higher than those of B30. In addition, the results of the one way ANOVA test on data of passenger vehicles B20 and B30 shows p–value <0.05, which states the average value of fuel economy in each passenger vehicle is different based on statistical analysis. However, based on the difference of engine technology, the fuel consumption of B30 and B20 does not have a significant difference.