This review will be concentrated on the spray characteristics of bioethanol and its derived fuels such as ethanol-diesel, ethanol-biodiesel in compression ignition (CI) engines. The difficulty in meeting the severe limitations on NOx and PM emissions in CI engines has brought about many methods for the application of ethanol because ethanol diffusion flames in engine produce virtually no soot. The most popular method for the application of ethanol as a fuel in CI engines is the blending of ethanol with diesel. The physical properties of ethanol and its derivatives related to spray characteristics such as viscosity, density and surface tension are discussed. Viscosity and density of e-diesel and e-biodiesel generally are decreased with increase in ethanol content and temperature. More than 22% and 30% of ethanol addition would not satisfied the requirement of viscosity and density in EN 590, respectively. Investigation of neat ethanol sprays in CI engines was conducted by very few researchers. The effect of ambient temperature on liquid phase penetration is a controversial topic due to the opposite result between two studies. More researches are required for the spray characteristics of neat ethanol in CI engines. The ethanol blended fuels in CI engines can be classified into ethanol-diesel blend (e-diesel) and ethanol-biodiesel (e-biodiesel) blend. Even though dodecanol and n-butanol are rarely used, the addition of biodiesel as blend stabilizer is the prevailing method because it has the advantage of increasing the biofuel concentration in diesel fuel. Spray penetration and SMD of e-diesel and e-biodiesel decrease with increase in ethanol concentration, and in ambient pressure. However, spray angle is increased with increase in the ethanol percentage in e-diesel. As the ambient pressure increases, liquid phase penetration was decreased, but spray angle was increased in e-diesel. The increase in ambient temperature showed the slight effect on liquid phase penetration, but spray angle was decreased. A numerical study of micro-explosion concluded that the optimum composition of e-diesel binary mixture for micro-explosion was approximately E50D50, while that of e-biodiesel binary mixture was E30B70 due to the lower volatility of biodiesel. Adding less volatile biodiesel into the ternary mixture of ethanol-biodiesel-diesel can remarkably enhance micro-explosion. Addition of ethanol up to 20% in e-biodiesel showed no effect on spray penetration. However, increase of nozzle orifice diameter results in increase of spray penetration. The more study on liquid phase penetration and SMD in e-diesel and e-biodiesel is required.