Improvement Efficiency and Emission Reduction in Used Cars for Developing Regions Using Gasoline–Bioethanol Blends

Energy demand is continuously increasing owing to rapid technological developments and population growth. Additionally, it has been shown that the consumption of fossil fuels contributes to the emission of gases that increase the greenhouse effect. An alternative for addressing the problems of greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on oil is to replace fossil fuels with biofuels. This article presents the combustion gas emissions and performance assessment of a used car using gasoline–bioethanol blends at concentrations free of mechanical risk to contribute information for energy transition. The tests were carried out using the mixtures E0, E5, and E10 at speeds of 1500, 2500, and 4500 rpm for the evaluation of emissions. Meanwhile, for the performance assessment, the speed was varied from 2500 rpm to 8000 rpm. The vehicle was analyzed under functional operating conditions, and no mechanical modifications were made to the alcohol mixtures. Testing was performed using a gas analyzer with non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) electroluminescence and electrochemical cells to measure the emissions, and a computerized chassis dynamometer was used to measure the torque and speed. From the results shown here, it can be concluded that the use of bioethanol at low concentrations in the range without mechanical risk, such as E0, E5, and E10, can be utilized in used cars and in functional operating conditions, improving the thermal efficiency of the engine by 2% and 1.2% with the E5 and E10 mixtures. The specific consumption increased up to 3% with the E10 mixture owing to the lower energy capacity of the mixture. Meanwhile, HC polluting emissions decreased by up to 8.44%, 20%, and 100 at speeds of 1500 rpm, 2500 rpm, and 4500 rpm, respectively. The nitrogen oxide emissions decreased by up to 5% for mixtures E5 and E10. The results presented in this article may be useful for decision making in the use of biofuels in automobiles used in the energy transition. In addition, our study can be taken as a reference for studies on cars that are more than 20 years old.