Abstract
This study investigates the suitability of lower fatty-acid methyl esters from plants oils in port-injected SI engines. Caprylic acid (C8:0) methyl ester (CaME) that is the lowest fatty acid in a palm kernel oil was selected as a test fuel. CaME was blended into ethanol to obtain the adequate vaporability for SI engines. The experiments were conducted for various fuel blend-ratios, engine loads, and ignition timings under the stoichiometric condition. The results show that the engine performance and exhaust emissions with CaME blend up to 40vol% are almost equivalent to those with ethanol fuel.
