Automotive emissions

and ways to control it

By
Behab Patnaik
139109342

INTRODUCTION
Automotive emissions in aggravating the air pollution and
various causes of the genesis and exodus of these pollutants
have been identified and methods to control them have been
outlined.
Seventy-five percentof carbon monoxide emissions come
from automobiles. In urban areas, harmful automotive
emissions are responsible for anywhere between 50 and90
percentof air pollution. All told, that's quite a lot of air
pollution coming from our vehicles.

The three main types of automotive vehicles being

used in our country are:

Passenger cars powered by four stroke gasoline engines

Motor cycles scooters and autorickshaws powered mostly

by small two stroke engines

Large buses and trucks powered mostly by four stroke

diesel engines

Emissions from gasoline powered vehicles

are generally classified as:
Exhaust
Crank

emissions

case emissions

Evaporative

emission

The amount of pollutants that an automobile emits

depends on a number of factors including the design and
operation. Diesel powered engines create relatively minor
pollution problems compared to gasoline powered ones.
The major problems of diesel engines are smoke and
odor.

EXHAUST EMISSIONS
The important exhaust emissions from a gasoline engine
are:

carbon monoxide

unburnt hydrocarbons

nitrogen oxide

Particulates

Carbon monooxide
Symptoms and HealthEffects. BreathingCOcan cause headache,
dizziness, vomiting, and nausea. IfCOlevels are high enough, you
may become unconscious or die. Exposure to moderate and high
levels ofCOover long periods of time has also been linked with
increaseed risk of heart disease.
Carbon monoxide mainly causes adverse effects in humans by
combining withhemoglobinto form carboxyhemoglobin(HbCO) in
the blood. This prevents hemoglobin from carrying oxygen to the
tissues, effectively reducing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the
blood, leading tohypoxia

Unburnt Hydrocarbons
Unburnt hydrocarbonsreact with sunlight and other
pollutants, such as nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide, to
form ozone (O3) which is a main component of photochemical
smog.
In addition, they have a higher possibility to find ways into soil
and water via precipitation and gravity deposit simply because
they are heavier.
No matter what type of hydrocarbons they are, they are toxic
and carcinogenic to humans (heart, liver and lung problems)
and harmful to the ecosystem.

Nitrogen oxide
Nitrogen dioxideandnitric oxideare referred to together
asoxidesofnitrogen(NOx). NOx gases react to form smog and acid rain
as well as being central to the formation of fine particles (PM) and
ground level ozone, both of which are associated with adverse
healtheffects.
NOx mainly impacts on respiratory conditions causing inflammation of
the airways at high levels. Long term exposure can decrease lung
function, increase the risk of respiratory conditions and increases the
response to allergens. NOx also contributes to the formation of fine
particles (PM) and ground level ozone, both of which are associated with
adverse health effects.
High levels of NOx can have a negative effect on vegetation, including
leaf damage and reduced growth. It can make vegetation more
susceptible to disease and frost damage.

Particulates
Particulate MatterHealthEffects.Particulate matter, also
called PM or soot, consists of microscopically small solid
particles or liquid droplets suspended in the air. The smaller
the particles, the deeper they can penetrate into the
respiratory system and the more hazardous they are to
breathe.
PM causes changes in blood chemistry that can result in clots
that may lead to heart attacks.
PM can increase susceptibility to viral and bacterial
pathogens leading to pneumonia in vulnerable persons who
are unable to clear these infections.

Controlling Emissions
Automobile manufactures have used two basic methods to
reduce the amounts of hydrocarbons and CO:
i.

The first is to inject manifold near the exhaust valves, where

exhaust gas temperature is highest, thus inducing further
oxidation of unoxidised or partially oxidised substances.

ii.

The second basic method is to design cylinders and adjust

fuel-air ratio, spark timing and other varaibles.

CONTROL OF EXHAUST EMISSIONS

Use of leaner idle mixture

Use of leaner possible mixture

mixing of fuel with air.

Pre-treatment of the mixture to improve vaporization

Use of narrow venturies to produce higher air speeds and

better fuel atomisation

Special devices for reducing or cutting off fuel supply during

deceleration.

Use of automatic transmission

The study also revealed that on average,

maintenance to polluting vehicles does not require
the replacement of major or expensive parts. Tuning
is mainly limited to:

replacing points and air filter

replacing points and air filter

replacing oil and oil filter

checking spark plug condition and gapadjusting or

replacing

CRANK CASE EMISSIONS

Crank case emissions consist of engine blow by which leaks
past the piston mainly during the compression stroke and of
oil vapours generated into the crank case.
The gases mainly contain hydrocarbons and account nearly
for 25% of the total hydrocarbon emissions from a passenger
car. Emissions of hydrocarbons from the crank case of
automobiles can be largely eliminated by the positive crank
case ventilation(PCV) systems. These systems recycle crank
case ventilation air and blowby gases to the engine intake
instead of venting them to the atmosphere.

EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS
It has been estimated that an average Indian passenger car
would emit about 20kg of hydrocarbons through evaporation
annually. It might also be dealt with by changing the
properties of gasoline such as reducing the volatility of fuel
and replacing the C4 and C5 olefinic hydrocarbon in the fuel
with the less reactive C4 and C5 paraffinic hydrocarbons.
Mechanical methods can also be used to control evaporative
emissions. The exhaust gas pollutants comprise of
hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and lead
compounds.

FORMATION OF PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG

The deleterious effects of automotive pollutants include toxic effects of

CO and lead compounds and the formation of photochemical smog. The
chief culprits in the smog dilemma are the volumetrically lower
concentrations of unburnt or partially burnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen
oxides. The necessary conditions for smog formation are: Sufficient
quantity and concentration of unburnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides
in the atmosphere Stagnant atmospheric conditions produced by
meteorological thermal inversions Strong sunlight.

AIR-FUEL RATIO
A decrease in the AF ratio increases the HC content in the
exhausts of passenger cars at idle, but does not have any
effect at part throttle. Methane and acetyleene are the two
hydrocarbons most greatly affected by the AF ratio.

COMBUSTION CHAMBER DEPOSITS

HC exhaust emissions are significantly enhanced with accumulation of

chamber deposits. During combustion, these pores and their
interconnecting passsages are filled with unburnt HC and escape
burning. These are discharged back to the atmosphere during exhaust
in the same state, increasing emission levels considerably. Uniform
distribution of deposits is likely to provide more void space for the
adsorption on unburnt HC during combustion thereby raising exhaust
levels

THERMAL CONVERTERS

Thermal converters are high temperature chambers through which the

exhaust gases flow.They promote oxidation of the CO and HC which remain in
the exhaust.The high temperature is mandatory for the oxidation reaction to
take place at such time intervals.The oxidation temperatures required for CO
and HC is 700 and 600 degrees.

Further it should be large enough to provide adequate residence time of the

exhaust gases to promote the oxidation reactions

Make sure it is placed as close to the exhaust manifold as possible this is

necessary to minimize the heat loses and keep the exhaust gases from cooling
to non reacting temperatures.

Catalytic converters
Use of catalytic convertors Catalytic converters depend on
the action of a catalyst containing certain exotic chemicals
to convert HC and CO emissions to their oxidised products.
limitations:

Poisoning of catalyst by lead compounds lead to fuel

Deterioration

Pressure loss

noise problems

Stratified Charge Engine:

It operates with very lean air petrol mixtures
depending on a localised rich mixture region near
the spark plug to initiate combustion

CONTROL OF CRANK-CASE EMISSIONS

These consist of engine blowby gases, ventilation air and
crank-case lubricant fumes. For air pollution blowby is most
important and the principal constituents in blowby gases are
hydrocarbons. Designers are shifting crank-case exhaust
vents from simple open ending to a feed back. New engines
equipped with this positive crank-case ventilation (PCV)
system return crank-case vapours through a vacuum valve,
back to the downstream side of the carburettor.

CONTROL OF EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS

There are two sources of evaporative emissions viz., the fuel
tank and the carburettor. The principal factors governing
tank emissions are:

Fuel volatility Ambient temperature

Design better fuel tanks and fuel channels

ALTERNATIVES

Electric cars

Natural gas

Solar cars

hybrid-electric vehicles

hydrogen fuel-cell-electric vehicles

Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaust_gas
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/automobile_emission
s_control.htm
https://www.britannica.com/technology/emission-controlsystem
environmental education by anita prasad

THANK YOU