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Diversifying energy resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are key priorities in the forthcoming years for the automotive industry. Currently, among the different solutions, sustainable biofuels are considered as one of the most attractive answer to these issues. This paper deals with the vehicle application of an innovative diesel fuel formulation using Ethanol to tackle these future challenges. The main goal is to better understand the impact of using biofuel blends on engine behavior, reliability and pollutants emissions. This alternative oxygenated fuel reduces dramatically particulate matter (PM) emissions; this paves the way to improve the NOx/PM/CO₂ trade-off. Another major interest is to avoid adding a particulate filter in the exhaust line and to avoid modifying powertrain and vehicle hardware and therefore to minimize the overall cost to fulfill upcoming emission regulations.

For studying simultaneously and early in the development process the effects of engine design parameters and of control strategies on HC emissions, a methodology has been set up to reproduce on a gasoline single-cylinder engine the beginning of MVEG cycle. This methodology uses different fuels and analysis tools to assess the HC sources. Oil and water are heated to follow the thermal behavior of a multi cylinder engine. A fast prototyping system is used to control the engine. Special attention has been paid to take into account the acoustic effect on the air feeding. The main tendencies observed in stabilized conditions are similar to transient test conditions with GDI engine. Wall wetting appears as the main source of HC emission in case of direct injection. Transient effects are especially sensitive during cold conditions.