Comparison between Engine Performance from Pertalite and Pertamax on Yamaha Vixion 150 cc Motorcycle - By Hengky Kusniar

Science in Daily Life

Studying the Fuel; the Comparison between Engine Performance from Pertalite and Pertamax on Yamaha Vixion 150 cc Motorcycle

H Kusniar ¹

¹International Program on Science Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia

 

 

^*hengkykusniar@student.upi.edu

Introduction

          Fuel is one of the most widely used energy sources by the Indonesian Country, the transportation sector especially motor vehicles is one of the sectors that use the most fuel in Indonesia. The development of motor vehicle technology currently requires fuel producers to provide environmentally friendly fuels. These fuel products are now better known as non-subsidized BBM products because in marketing these products are not subsidized by the government. PT Pertamina, as a state-owned BBM producer, has produced non-subsidized BBM under the Pertalite brand.

          Motorcycle sales in Indonesia are still increasing with cheap and environmentally friendly cars Motorcycle sales reached 6.07 million units through September, up 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year reaching 5.8 million units. Based on type, the increase occurred for motorsport and scooters, respectively up 7.37 percent and 9.03 percent. The Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association recorded sales of 1.22 million units of motorbikes, 859.6 thousand units of motor sport and the highest was scooters of 3.99 million units. In terms of factories, the highest sales were PT Astra Honda Motor with 3.8 million units, up 9 percent in range and PT Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing, with 1.9 million units. (CNN Indonesia).

          The increase in the number of motor vehicle sales is followed by an increase in the amount of fuel consumption, especially in West Java. Pertamina increased the quantity of premium and diesel fuel in West Java after an increase in consumption after the fall in fuel prices. Energy SOEs increased premium distribution by 47% to 11,400 kiloliters and diesel fuel by 62% to 6,288 kiloliters. In the national scope, Indonesia imported 1.7 million barrels of oil a day in 2015 in line with the increase in fuel consumption. This amount is up from the 2014 projection of 1.62 million barrels per day (BPD). (Indonesia's Energy Outlook). Currently in Indonesia, several types of gasoline have different combustion grades. The quality value of this type of gasoline fuel is calculated based on the value of RON (Research Octane Number). Based on the RON, gasoline fuel is divided into 3 types, namely Premium, Pertalite, and Pertamax. Based on the explanation and explanation above, the researcher is interested in conducting a study entitled "Studying the Fuel; the Comparison between Engine Performance from Pertalite and Pertamax on Yamaha Vixion 150 cc Motorcycle"

Method

This research employs quantitative method, where data will be collected through experiments in the course of three trials for each variable observed.

       The procedure of the experiments goes as follows:

1.  Prepare two papers with identical type and weight, two strings, a stopwatch, and a ruler.

2.  Make a hole in the middle top part of the papers.

3.  Tie a string to the hole of the paper.

4.  Hold the strings with a certain distance between the papers.

5.  Blow the air in between the papers.

6.  Count the time it took from the wind blows to the papers touching using stopwatch.

7.  Repeat the experiment 3 times to get the average result.

The variables of the experiments were controlled as follows; The pressure and velocity of the wind blowing will be kept relatively the same as the control variable. The paper chosen will be two 297x210 mm 70-gram HVS papers for the first experiments, and two 297x210 mm 120-gram concorde papers for the second experiments, so that the masses will be one of the independent variables. The distance between the papers will also be changed in order to see if there is any difference caused by the distance; where the measured distance will be 6 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, 12 cm, and 14 cm for each experiment.

          After the experiments was done, the data collected will be calculated by its’ average time for each trial, and graph will be made from the data calculated.

Result and Discussion

After the experiments, the data was collected and shown in Table 1 and Table 2 as follows: 

Table 1. The results of the experiment using HVS paper.

Paper	Mass (gram)	Distance (cm)	Trials			Average Time (s)
			1 (s)	2 (s)	3(s)
210x297mm HVS	70-gram	6 cm	2.44	2.25	2.22	2.30
		8 cm	1.13	1.37	1.20	1.23
		10 cm	1.37	1.43	1.49	1.43
		12 cm	1.46	1.59	1.38	1.47
		14 cm	-	-	-	-

 

Table 2. The results of the experiment using Concorde paper.

Paper	Mass (gram)	Distance (cm)	Trials			Average Time (s)
			1 (s)	2 (s)	3(s)
210x297mm Concorde	120-gram	6 cm	2.68	2.60	2.45	2.57
		8 cm	1.22	1.47	1.22	1.30
		10 cm	1.29	1.27	1.31	1.29
		12 cm	-	-	-	-
		14 cm	-	-	-	-

 

          Table 1 shows the time it took for HVS paper weighed at 70-gram to touch each other when blown by the wind, while Table 2 shows the same observation for Concorde paper weighed at 120-gram.

          To make the data easier to read, the results will be compilated and converted into a graph presented in Graph 1 as follow:

Graph 1. Results of the Experiments of Time for Papers to Touch when Blown by using Bernoulli’s Principle

 

          It turns out that data collected has a unique pattern. Since the velocity of the blown wind was maintained to have a relatively same intensity, the data can only be collected on limited range of 6-12 cm, less than 6 is too close to be measured, while more than 12 and the HVS cannot touch each other because of the low intensity of the blown wind. And same thing goes for the Concorde after 10 cm who cannot touch the papers for the same reason.

          In both tables, the starting point of 6 cm has the longest time for the paper to touch, this happened due to the limited area of low pressure to be formed between the papers. For 6 cm, the papers firstly depart from each other when blown in between, then after the distance got a little bit wider, the lower pressure area starting to be formed in between the papers, afterward the pressure outside the papers push the papers into low pressure area until it touches, that is why it took longer.

          The unique thing about the data is that after 6 cm, the pattern is starting to form in both results for HVS and Concorde. The distance on 8 cm takes the shortest time for the papers to touch each other, and the time is starting to increase afterward due to the increase in distance as well.

          On another note, the mass of the papers doesn’t affect the results significantly. As shown by how similar the results are even though the mass difference of the concorde is 1.7x heavier than the HVS.

Conclusion

From the experiment, it was found that the relation between velocity and pressure of the wind blown with the distance between paper is inversely proportional, where the greater the distance, the velocity and pressure of the wind in between the paper has to be greater to achieve the constant time to meet. While for the mass, it was found that the relation is insignificant in the equation.

Acknowledgments

Authors wishing their gratitude for the assistance and encouragement from colleagues, and lecturers of Science in Daily Life course.

References

[1]     Science Buddies Staff. (2018, March 3). A Change in the Winds: Studying Bernoulli's Principle. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Aero_p039/aerodynamics-hydrodynamics/bernoulli-principle

[2]     NASA Glenn Research Center (n.d.). Gas Pressure. Retrieved from https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/pressure.html

[3]     NASA Glenn Research Center (n.d.). Bernoulli's Equation. Retrieved from https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/bern.html

[4]     Kleinedler, Steven. The American Heritage Children's Science Dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.

[5]     Smith, H.C. "Skip." The Illustrated Guide to Aerodynamics. 2nd ed. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1992.

[6]     Tocci, Salvatore. Experiments with Air. New York: Children's Press, 2002.

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