MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSION Submitted by:

HARSHAN
 Emission Formation in CI Engines
A fuel rich core where fuel-air equivalence ratio
is richer than the rich flammability limits i.e.,

Flammable region in which ø lies within the rich

and lean flammability limits, i.e.,

A lean flame-out region (LFOR) where ø is lower than

lean flammability limits and extends up to the spray
boundary i.e.,
Schematic representation of diesel spray, combustion and pollutant
formation for a direct injection diesel engine
 COMPOSITION
Principal Engine Emissions

CO : 0.03 to 0.1 %, v/v

HC : 20 to 500 ppmc1
NOx : 100 -2000 ppm
PM : 0.02 to 0.2 g/m3 (0.2 to 0.5% of fuel consumption by mass)
OVERVIEW OF CI ENGINE EMISSION CONTROL
• CI engines emits pollutants in solid (soot), liquid (poly aromatic hydrocarbons, fuel and oil components,
sulphur acids) as well as those in gaseous (CO, HC, NOx) state.
• Emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter from diesel engines are of main concern.
• Emission regulations do have limits for CO and HC as well from the CI engines, but concentration of
their emissions is rather small and these have been relatively easy to control through improved engine
and fuel system design.
• NOx - PM trade off governs selection and optimization of many engine design variables e.g, injection
timing, injection pressure, boost pressure etc as change in some engine variables may although cause
reduction in NOx but increases PM and vice versa.
• Engine design changes to reduce NOx emissions many a times result also in higher brake specific fuel
consumption (BSFC). This is important as the emissions of the greenhouse gas, CO2 are also to be
reduced.
SOURCE OF EMISSIONS
Engine Parameters
Engine Design Variables
• Compression ratio
• Combustion chamber design – low crevice volume, high turbulence
• Spark timing
• Air-fuel ratio
• Injection system: injection pressure and timing, nozzle holes, nozzle sac volume
• Intake system
• Engine temperature control
Fuel Quality
Lubrication system
Engine Operating Variables:
• EGR
• Engine speed
• Engine load
COMPRESSION RATIO
Engine compression ratio affects

• Surface to volume ratio of the combustion chamber

• Engine combustion temperature
• Thermodynamic efficiency
• Fuel octane number for knock free engine operation

•High Compression Ratio  Shorter ignition delay period results in

‘overmixing’ of A/F  lower HC emissions. High combustion
temperatures obtained at higher C.R tend to increase oxidation of Effect of surface/volume ratio of combustion chamber
unburned H  results in soot formation on HC emissions

•Low Compression Ratio  Shorter ignition delay period  Increases

fraction of fuel burned during the premixed phase resulting in higher
peak pressures and temperatures which cause an increase in NOx
formation results in white smoke formation.
COMBUSTION CHAMBER DESIGN

Combustion chamber design changes are commonly used to offset increases in soot emissions when
measures are taken to limit NOx emissions. In many cases, improvements enhance mixing late in the
combustion process to improve soot burn-out.
Dead Volumes
Air in the combustion chamber is contained in several different volumes like piston bowl, top land crevice,
piston – cylinder head clearance, valve recess and head gasket clearance - -> poorly utilized during
combustion.
A lower clearance between piston and cylinder head increases air utilization and reduces the possibility
of fuel entering the crevices. Reduction in ‘poor air utilization' volumes results in lower particulate
emission and fuel consumption.
Multi-valves and air motion

Use of multiple valves (3 or 4) per cylinder increases flow area and hence, the volumetric efficiency of the
engine.
With two valves designs, the injector is always offset and inclined. Injector inclination of 20 and 10 degrees
from vertical has been observed to give an increase of about 25 and 5 %, respectively in PM emissions
due to poor fuel distribution in the cylinder compared to a vertically located injector. Reduction of up to 4
to 7 % in specific fuel consumption is also obtained at the same NOx emission level in a multi-valve engine
with centrally placed combustion bowl and injector.

Typical PM-NOx characteristics for 4-

and 2-valve per cylinder passenger car
diesel engines are compared.
DIRECT INJECTION (DI) VERSUS INDIRECT INJECTION (IDI) ENGINES
At light loads, most of NO may form in the pre-chamber. But, at higher loads
additional NO formation would occur in the main chamber. Although
temperatures are higher in the pre-chamber than the main chamber, but except
at light loads mixture is overall rich and hence, the lower formation of NO.

In the DI engines, at the end of premixed combustion higher peak pressures and
temperatures are obtained compared to the IDI engines and NO is formed in
near stoichiometric mixtures during mixing controlled phase and post combustion
gases.

Due to these factors overall, the indirect injection engines emit lower NOx.
In the DI engines due to low turbulence levels some of CO formed in the rich
spray regions may not find the required oxygen for complete combustion while
the temperatures are still high. It results in higher CO emissions than the IDI
engines even though more excess air is present in the DI engines.
 Typical effect of injection timing on NOx , HC, smoke
FUEL SYSTEM emissions and fuel consumption for a heavy-duty diesel
engine.

Fuel Injection Timing and Injection Pressure

•With retarded injection timing, NOx emissions decrease
sharply (But results in increase in smoke If the injection timing
is retarded too much)
•An increase in injection pressure results in higher NOx and
HC, but yields lower smoke and PM emissions

Effect of injection pressure on PM emissions

FUEL QUALITY
As the fuel density decreases the fuel contains more of paraffinic hydrocarbons, which results generally
in higher cetane number and fuel volatility and lower viscosity. So, the effect of change in one fuel
quality parameter on emissions may be some times the result of several interactions.
A high fuel cetane number improves cold starting and results in faster warm-up thus reducing cold
engine HC emissions.
As an increase in the cetane number reduces ignition delay it results in lowering of HC and NO x
emissions. On the other hand, with higher fuel volatility a larger lean flame out ‘overmixing' region may
result and due to faster fuel evaporation the fraction of fuel burned during premixed combustion is also
higher. Therefore, an increase in NO x as well as HC may be observed with more volatile diesel fuels.
The fuel sulphur increases sulphates in PM emissions increasing the particulate mass.
LUBRICATION

CONTROL OF ENGINE OIL CONSUMPTION

Engine lubricating oil enters combustion chamber through;
•Valve guides
•Piston ring/liner interface and
•Turbocharger seal
Part of the engine oil gets burnt but 10 to 40% of oil entering combustion chamber may not burn
at all. The unburned oil gets adsorbed on soot particles during exhaust process and forms soluble
organic fraction (SOF) of the particulates.
ENGINE OPERATING VARIABLES
Engine load Effect of air-fuel ratio and engine load on soot
emissions for a DI diesel engine
•NOx and soot emissions increases with increase in engine load
(increase in fuel-air ratio)
•With increase in engine load as the combustion temperatures
increase and oxidation environment for CO is more favourable,
CO emissions decrease until excess air reduces to about 30
percent . With further increase in load and fuel-air ratio, CO
emissions start increasing again and rise sharply as still more
fuel is injected to increase engine power output.
•At maximum load, NOx , CO and soot are also at their
maximum level.
•Engine brake thermal efficiency increases with engine load.
Engine Speed
The variable speed engines are designed to give lowest fuel consumption at about 2/3rd
of maximum speed at which heavy duty engines are normally operated.
In turbocharged engines, the boost pressure is reduced at low engine speeds resulting in
higher fuel-air ratio. At high speeds pumping losses increase and cooling decreases. The
coolant and residual gases are hotter as the speed increases. Both these factors increase
NO x at high engine speeds. The HC and PM have an optimum at an intermediate speed
because time available for oxidation decreases at the higher engine speeds.
IMPACT OF EMISSION
Engine emissions undergo chemical reactions in atmosphere known largely Air pollutants
as ‘photochemical’ reactions and give rise to other chemical species which
are hazardous to health and environment.

Photochemical Smog
A brownish-grey haze resulting from the reactions caused by solar
ultraviolet radiations between hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen in
the atmosphere.
• The air pollutants such as ozone, nitric acid, organic compounds like
peroxy-acetyl nitrates or PAN ( CH3CO-OO-NO2) are trapped
near the ground by temperature inversion experienced especially
during winter months.
• These chemical substances can effect human health and cause TSP = Total suspended particulate matter in air
damage to plants. The photochemical reactions are initiated by PAN = Peroxy- acetyl nitrate
nitrogen oxides emitted by vehicles into atmosphere.
ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS
The effect of pollutants on human health depends on pollutant concentration in the ambient air and
the duration to which the human beings are exposed.
o Carbon monoxide on inhalation is known to combine with haemoglobin at a rate 200 to 240
times faster than oxygen thus reducing oxygen supply to body tissues and results in CO
intoxication.
o Nitrogen oxides get dissolved in mucous forming nitrous and nitric acids causing irritation of nose
throat and respiratory tract. Long term exposure causes nitrogen oxides to combine with
hemoglobin and destruction of red blood cells. Long term exposure resulting in more than 10% of
hemoglobin to combine with nitrogen oxides causes bluish coloration of skin, lips fingers etc.
 GLOBAL EMISSION LEGISLATION BY WORLD REGION

* CARB - California Air Resources Board LEV - Low Emission Vehicle RDE - Real Driving Emissions (P)NLT - (Post) New Long-Term Targets
WLTP - World LDV Test Procedure WLTC - World LDV Test Cycle PN - Particle Number EU – European Union
 EMISSION STANDARDS/NORMS
Emission Standard for Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles (GVW < 3,500kg)

NEDC - New European Driving Cycle

VARIOUS WAYS TO CONTROL EMISSION
Optimized engine design and fuel parameters
Emission control by engine variables
FUEL INJECTION VARIABLES
• Use of high fuel injection pressures and smaller nozzle hole size to produce very fine fuel
atomization for rapid fuel evaporation and mixing with air.
• Fuel spray not to impinge on walls but fuel to be distributed mainly within the air inside the
combustion chamber.
• Matching of injection spray configuration and development with in-cylinder air motion for
rapid fuel-air mixing throughout the injection duration period
•Use of variable injection timing, multiple –injection and injection rate shaping technology
Turbocharging
Advantages of turbocharging are:
• Due to higher air density and higher temperatures at the end of compression stroke shorter
ignition delay period is obtained.
• As a result of shorter ignition delay period , the fraction of fuel burned during premixed
combustion phase decreases resulting in lower NOx emissions.
• A shorter delay period gives lower HC emissions.
• With turbocharging, the injection timing can be retarded to further lower NOx emissions
without compromising fuel efficiency and power.
• High excess air results in lower soot emissions.
• Inter-cooling of the boosted air charge further increases charge density and lower intake
temperatures helps in reducing NOx emissions.
 An overview of various technologies and direction of research and development
which have been pursued to control NOx and PM emissions from the CI engines are
presented below:

An overview of NOx reduction techniques in CI engines

An overview of PM reduction techniques in CI engines

*SOF – Soluble organic fraction

CI ENGINE EXHAUST GAS TREATMENT

Exhaust aftertreatment in diesel engines may be grouped in two broad categories;

•Diesel catalytic exhaust aftertreatment and
•Diesel particulate filters (DPF)
DIESEL OXIDATION CATALYSTS
• 30 –80% conversion of the gaseous HC
• 40 to 90 % reduction of CO
• Dry soot does not get oxidized. But, oxidation of 50 to 80% of soluble organic fraction and
some PAH occurs that gives 30 to 50 % reduction in total PM emissions.
• Conversion of fuel sulphur to SO3 and emission of sulphuric acid aerosol.
EXHAUST GAS RE-CIRCULATION (EGR)
DIESEL DE-NOX CATALYSTS
• NOx Storage – Reduction (NSR) Catalysts
• Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTERS
For good mechanical strength, wall porosity is kept about 48-50%.
Pore size range from 12 to 35 μm.
 Pore size of about 35 μm gives filtration efficiency of 60-75%
 20 to 25 μm pore size filters are used for 80-90 % efficiency and
 12 to 14 μm pore size for efficiency > 90%.
ADVANCED COMBUSTION SYSTEMS AND ALTERNATIVE POWERPLANTS

• DIRECT INJECTION STRATIFIED CHARGE (DISC) ENGINES

• HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE COMPRESSION IGNITION (HCCI)

or CONTROLLED AUTO-IGNITION (CAI) ENGINES
Potential NOx and PM emission reductions through engine modifications

Technology Reduction potential Issues

NOx PM
Combustion cylinder 10% 10%
alternations
Increased EGR 5% - 10% increase Unstable combustion,
engine wear, packaging
constraint
EGR with improved air 5% - 15% 15 – 25% Fuel economy
handling
Fuel Injection system (-5) – 0% 20% Cost, complexity
Total Engine modifications 10 – 15% 40 – 50 % NOx-PM trade off
optimization
HCCI combustion 65 – 75% 60 – 95% Difficult to operate overall
loads
CONCLUSION

Emission in compression ignition engine can be reduced by means of optimizing

engine parameters which control the emission characteristics and using the best suited
after treatment system with reduced NOx – PM trade off.
Implementation of HCCI Engine with optimized engine design variables (chamber
design, fuel injection, A/F management, etc.) with Variable Geometry Turbocharger
(VGT – Intake Boosting), Hybrid EGR (Two or more EGR loops – High & Low pressure)
and exhaust system after treatments – DOC + DPF + SCR/NSR for effective reduction
in vehicle emission.