Nitin Joshi B Tech Mechanical

VARIOUS
METHODS
USED TO
CONTROL
ENGINE
EMISSION

SUBMITTED BY:-
NITIN JOSHI

CONTENTS

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1. Abstract………………………………………………………………………1
2. Introduction…………………………………………………………………..1
3. Thermal Converters…………………………………………………………..2
4. Catalytic Converters………………………………………………………….2-3
5. CI Engine……………………………………………………………………..3
6. Particulate Traps……………………………………………………………....4-5
7. Reducing emissions by chemical methods…………………………………...5
8. Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR)……………………………………….......5-6
9. Air Injection………………………………………………………………..…6
10. Evaporative Emissions Control……………………………………………….6
11. Ceramic Engine Coatings……………………………………………………..6
12. Evaporation Loss Control Device…………………………………………….6-7
13. Other Methods………………………………………………………………...7
14. List of tables ……………………………………………………………….…8
14.1 Table 1: IC Engine Typical Emission Level
14.2 Table 2: Cost of Catalytic Control Technologies
15. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….9
16. References…………………………………………………………………….9

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Abstract:-
The topic of term paper is methods used to control the engine emissions. In this we will
discuss about the emission type and the methods to control the emission. In this we will
discuss the thermal converters, Catalytic Converters, Particulate Traps, Exhaust Gas
Recirculation (EGR), Air Injection, Evaporative Emissions Control, Ceramic Engine
Coatings, and Other Methods. At last we will conclude that at what level we reach to
control the emissions and which method is the best one among the others and why.

Introduction:-
Our topic of term paper is to tell about the methods to control the engine emissions. In
this firstly I would like to discuss about the emissions & its types. To control the
pollution it is necessary to measure the emissions coming out from the engine. Emissions
are of two types i.e. invisible & visible emissions. These emissions are very harmful to
the environment & human beings, so it is necessary to control these emissions. The
methods used to control the emissions are discussed here in this term paper. First method
is thermal converter in this the temperature play the important role to control the
emission. Catalytic converter is the method in which by using the catalyst we reduce the
temperature requirement for the different reactions to occur efficiently it reduce the
temperature required. In particulate traps method we use the trap system to control the
amount of particulates released to the atmosphere.
We also use chemicals to control the emission in this chemical react with
the emission and reduce its harmful effect. Exhaust gas recirculation is also one of the
methods to control the emission in this we recirculate the exhaust gas and reburn it. There
are also many other methods used to control the emissions discussed in this term paper
but the main methods are those discussed above. In other methods there is air injection
method, ceramic engine coating, and evaporative emissions control method.

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Thermal Converters:-
As we know that the secondary reactions occur completely & readily if the temperature is
high. That’s the reason behind using the thermal converters it lowers the emissions.
Thermal converters are the high temperature chambers through which the exhaust gas
flows. It oxidizes the CO & HC remain in the exhaust. Consider the following reaction.
CO + ½ O2 → CO2
For this reaction to occur at a useful rate the temperature must be held above 700°c.now
consider another reaction.
Cx Hy + zO2 → xCO2 + y H2 O
Where z = x + 0.25y.
This reaction needs a temperature of range 600°c for at least 50 milliseconds to reduce
the HC. It is therefore necessary for a thermal converter to be effective; it should be
operate at high temperature. It should also provide the sufficient time for exhaust gases
for occurring these reactions. Most of thermal converters are having an enlarged exhaust
manifold connected to the engine outside the exhaust port. It is used to reduce the heat
losses and keeps the exhaust gases from cooling to nonreacting temperatures. It creates a
serious problem for the engine because in modern engine the compartment space is very
low. Some thermal converters consist of the air intake which provides additional oxygen
to react with the CO & HC. It increases the cost and, size of the system. We can reduce
the HC & CO emissions by the oxidation but we can’t reduce NOx emissions by using a
thermal converter.

Catalytic Converters:-
The other most used method to control the engine emission is catalytic converter used in
most automobiles and other modern engines of medium or large engines. These are also
called as the three way converters because they are used to reduce the concentration of
CO, HC, and NOx. It is usually a stainless steel container mounted somewhere along the
exhaust pipe of the engine. Inside the converter there is a porous ceramic structure
through which the exhaust gas flows. There are some small embedded particles of
catalytic material in the ceramic passage which promotes the oxidation reactions in the

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exhaust gas as it passes. We can oxidize CO & HC into CO2 & H2O in exhaust system
& thermal converter if the temperature is held at 600-700°C. If there is certain catalyst is
present the temperature needed to sustain these oxidation processes can be reduced to
250-300°C. Catalyst is a substance that accelerates a chemical reaction by lowering the
energy needed for it to proceed. The catalyst is not consumed in the reaction. These are
chamber mounted in the flow system through which the exhaust gas passes. It converts
hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and, NOx into less harmful gases by using the
combination of platinum, palladium and, rhodium as catalysts. The efficiency of the
catalytic converter is depending upon the temperature. When a converter is in good
working condition it is working on a temperature of 400°C or above. At this position it
will remove 98-99% of CO, 95% of NOx, and more than 95% of HC from exhaust flow
emissions. Effective control of HC & CO occurs with stoichiometric or lean mixtures
while control of NOx requires near stoichiometric conditions. Very poor NOx control
occurs with lean mixture. So it is necessary to operate converter hot to be effective but
not hotter. It is desirable that catalytic converter have an effective life time equal to that
of the automobile or at least 200, 000km. converters loss their age due to thermal
degradation and poisoning of the active catalyst material. When we use leaded gasoline it
would completely poison a converter and make it totally useless. Also catalytic
converters are not very effective when they are cold. It is estimated that about 70-90% of
all HC emissions are because of cold start up.

CI Engine:-
Catalytic converters are being tried with CI engines but are not efficient at reducing NOx
due to their overall lean operation. Platinum & palladium are two main catalyst materials
used for converters on CI engines. They remove 30-80% of the gaseous HC & 40-90% of
the CO in the exhaust. It has a little effect on carbon soot but can remove 30-60% of the
total particulate mass by oxidizing a large percent of the HC absorbed on the carbon
particles.

Particulate Traps:-

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Particulate trap is an emission control device in the exhaust system of a diesel engine that
captures particulates before they can enter the atmosphere.
As we know that in gas engine fuel is injected during the intake stroke whereas in diesel
engine fuel is injected during the compression stroke. As a result of this the gas engine
have the advantage of having more time to mix the air and fuel before ignition occurs,
this reduces the amount of unburned fuel. The consequence of this is that the diesel
engine exhaust contains incompletely burned fuel known as particulate matter.
In order to minimize this amount of unburned fuel, we use particulate filters. The key to
the successful application of particulate filters on diesel engine was the ability to reliably
regenerate the filter , or in other words, burn the pm that the particulate filter “traps” or
collects.
To understand how this filter regenerates, we must understand how the pm burns.
Combustion of soot is done in an oxygen atmosphere. In air, soot will burn at about 450
degree to 500 degree. As a result in order to burn soot in air, an active system, one that
increase the temperature of the exhaust using some external heat source is required. But if
this active system is not controlled careful, it would experience uncontrolled burn where
the temperature increases to 60 degree or more. This will damage the filter element and
also pose some potential risk to the vehicle.
The particulate filter is a passive filter using only the heat in the exhaust to combust the
soot. It is a dual brick system containing a highly loaded platinum catalyst upstream of a
filter element. The pt catalyst serves two functions:
1. First to convert a portion of the nitrous oxide in the exhaust to no2, which allows
the soot to be burned as this much lower temperature

2. Secondly to burn or reduce both carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon by over 90

percent.

The requirements for particulate filter technology to operate are simple. They are :
1. Use of USLD
2. An exhaust temperature of 250 degree for 40% of operating cycle
3. A NOx/PM ratio or more for the proper amount of NO2 for combustion

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When these conditions are met the CRT filter will operate reliably and will reduce
PM, CO and HC by more than 90 % for many years and hundreds of thousands of
miles. These filters have around 1,000,000 miles of reliable service reducing diesel
emissions every day.

Reducing Emissions By Chemical Methods:-

Work has been done on large stationary engines using cyanuric acid to reduce the NOx
emissions. This acid is a low cost solid material that sublimes in the exhaust flow. The
operating temperature is about 500°C. Upto 95% of NOx reduction can be achieved
without any loss in engine performance. Some large marine engines are using NH3 spray
system to reduce the NOx emissions. In the presence of catalyst following reaction occurs
4 NH3 + 4 NO + O2 → 4 N2 + 6 H2O
6 NO2 + 8 NH3 → 7 N2 + 12 H2O
Ammonia injection system is not practical in automobiles or on other smaller engines
because of the need of NH3 storage and fairly complex injection and control system.

Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR):-

The most effective way to control the emissions of NOx is to hold the combustion
chamber temperatures down. It also reduces the thermal efficiency of engine. To reduce
the flame temperature we dilute the air fuel mixture with a non reacting parasite gas. This
gas absorbs energy during the combustion process. Also adding of any non reacting
neutral gas to the inlet air fuel mixture reduces the flame temperature and NOx
generation. In this method a valve is inserted between the exhaust and intake manifold.
This valve opens under some conditions to admit exhaust into the intake tract. Exhaust
neither burn nor support the combustion it just dilutes the air fuel ratio to reduce the peak
combustion chamber temperatures and thus help to reduce the formation of NOx. EGR
not only reduce the maximum temperature in the combustion chamber but also lower the
overall efficiency. Increase in EGR results in the some cycle partial burns and in the
extreme total misfire. Then by using EGR NOx can be controlled but it increased the HC
emissions and lower thermal efficiency. The amount of the EGR is controlled by the

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engine management system. By sensing the inlet and exhaust conditions the flow
controlled ranging from 0 upto 15-30%. No EGR is used during WOT when maximum
power is desired. No EGR is used at ideal and very little at low speeds.
There is a problem with CI engines when using EGR is the solid
carbon soot in the exhaust. The soot acts as an abrasive and breaks down the lubricant.
Greater wear on the piston rings and valve train occurs.

Air Injection:-
Air injection is one of the methods used to control the emissions. This method provides
the oxygen to burn the unburned hydrocarbons inside the combustion chamber. It is used
to reduce the startup emissions.

Evaporative Emissions Control:-

Evaporative emissions are the result of gasoline vapors escaping from the vehicle fuel
system. In this system the vapors from the fuel tank and carburetor bowl vent are ducted
to canisters containing activated carbon. Canister absorbed the vapors, and during engine
operational modes fresh air is drawn through the canister, pulling the vapor into engine,
where it is burned.

Ceramic Engine Coatings:-

This technology is used in mobile and stationary diesel engines from many years. The
function of this is to reduce the carbon soot or visible smoke. It reduces the NOx
emission by 40% with decrease in NMHC and CO.

Evaporation Loss Control Device:-

The aim of this device is to control the evaporative emissions by capturing the vapours &
recirculating them at the appropriate time. It consists of an absorbent chamber, the
pressure balance valve and the purge control valve. The absorbent chamber holds the
hydrocarbons vapour before they can escape to atmosphere. The carburettor bowl & the
fuel tank main sources of HC emissions are directly connected to the absorbent chamber
when engine is turned off i.e. under hot soak. Hot soak is a condition when a warmed up

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car is stopped & its engine turned off. The absorbent when saturate is relieved of the
vapours by a stripping action allowing the air from the air cleaner to draw them to the
intake manifold through the purge valve. The internal seat of the pressure valve at that
time is so located that there is a direct pressure communication between the internal vent
and top of the carburettor bowl maintaining designed carburettor metering forces. The
operation of the purge valve is to take care of the exhaust bake pressure. Under normal
conditions the fuel supply is cut off so that the level of HC can be reduced. The ELCD
completely controls all types of the evaporative losses. It requires very accurate metering
control.

Other Methods:-
We can also control the emissions by improving the engine design, more precise ignition
timing, more precise fuel metering, proper mixing of fuel and air. When the mixing of the
air fuel will be proper then the combustion will be completely and the emission will be
less. Carbon soot can be reduced in modern CI engines by advanced design technology in
fuel injection system and combustion chamber geometry. With greatly increased mixing
efficiency and speeds, large regions of fuel rich mixtures can be avoided when
combustion starts. These are the regions where carbon soot is generated, and by reducing
there volume far less soot is generated. Indirect injection into a secondary chamber that
promotes high turbulence and swirl greatly speeds the air fuel mixing process. Better
nozzle design and higher injection pressures creates finer fuel droplets which evaporate
and mix quicker. Injection against a hot surface speeds evaporation, as do air assisted
injectors. Some modern top of the line CI automobiles engines have reduced particulates
generation enough that they meet stringent standards without the need for particulate
traps.
All methods listed above helps to reduce the engine emissions and hence help to
prevent the environment and human beings. Proper running conditions also help to
reduce the emissions. Using these standard methods one can control the emissions from
the engine

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Table 1: IC Engine Typical Emission Level

Engine Lambda*(ë) Mode Emission (g/bhp-hr)

Type NMHC CO NOx PM
Natural 0.98 Rich 0.3 13.9 8.3 Low
Gas 0.99 Rich 0.2 8.0 11.0 Low
1.06 Lean 1.0 1.0 18.0 Low
1.74 Lean 1.0 3.0 0.7 Low
Diesel 1.6-3.2 Lean 0.3 1.0 11.6 0.25-0.8
Dual 1.6-1.9 Lean 0.5 2.5 4.1 NA
Fuel

* ë is the ratio of the actual air to fuel ratio to the stoichiometric air to fuel ratio.

Table 2: Cost of Catalytic Control Technologies

Catalyst Type $/bhp

NSCR 10-12
SCR 50-125
Oxidation 9-10
Lean NOx 10-20
Engine Coating 5-12

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Conclusion:
From the above methods we can conclude that it is possible to control the emissions from
the engine by applying these methods. These methods are widely used. Some of these
methods are not easy to use, some are costly and, some methods are complicated. No
methods can be used to control the all type of emissions. For each type of emission there
is a different method. So while choosing the emission control method one should take
care and should select the most effective method according to conditions in which the
engine has to be run. Effectiveness of the engine also depend upon the emissions, if the
emissions are high then the efficiency will be low. So to save the environment and make
the engine more effective it is necessary to control the emissions.

References:-
I have taken the references from the following websites and books.
1. www.google.co.in
2. www.wikipedia.com
3. IC engines by V Ganesan 3rd edition tata mcgraw hill
4. IC Engine Fundamentals by John B. Heywood

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5. Emission Control Technology for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines (Status

Report) by Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association.

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