Chapter 9

Air pollution from internal combustion engines and it’s control

pollutants:
Pollutants are produced by in complete burning of the air-fuel mixture in the
combustion chamber. The major pollutants emitted from the exhaust due to incomplete
Combustion are:

1. carbon monoxide CO
2. Hydrocarbons HC
3. Oxides of nitrogen NOx
if the Combustion is complete, the only products being expelled from the exhaust
would be water vapor and carbon dioxide CO 2.

1- Carbon monoxide (CO):

At high temperature developed during the combustion, the products formed are
unstable, and the hollowing reactions take place:
2 H 2 O+O2 → 2 ( 1− y ) H 2 O+2 y H 2 + y O2
where y is the fraction of H 2 O dissociated.
x
C+ O 2 → CO2 → ( 1−x ) CO2 + x CO 2 + O 2
2

a small amount of CO will remain in exhaust, its concentration increasing with rich
mixtures.
2- Hydrocarbons HC:
It’s derived from unburnt fuel emitted by exhaust, engine crankcase fumes and vapor
escaping from the carburetor.

3- Oxides of nitrogen NO x :
At high combustion temperatures, the following chemical reactions take place:
N 2 O 2 → 2 NO

N 2 +2 H 2 O →2 NO+2 H 2

The NO formation will be less in rich mixtures than in lean mixture.

‫ عباس محمد اسماعيل‬.‫ م‬.‫أ‬ 1

Spark Ignition SI Engine emissions
The main sources of pollutants in SI Engine are:
1- The crankcase
2- The fuel system
3- The exhaust system

Spark Ignition Engine Emission Control:

The main methods used to control engine emission are:
1- modification in the engine design and operating parameters, The modification done
by:
a) combustion chamber configuration.
b) Lower compression ratio.
c) Modified induction system.
d) Ignition timing.
e) reduced value overlap.

2- Exhaust Gas oxidation, which can be done by using the devices discussed below:
a) After burner.
b) Exhaust manifold reactor.
c)catalytic converter: A catalytic converter is a device which is placed in the
vehicle exhaust system to reduce HC and CO by oxidizing catalyst and NO by
reducing catalyst.

3- Emission Control by fuel Variation:

The methods used to control the emission in SI engine:
1. Blow-by control: The basic principle of crankcase blowby control system is
recirculation of vapors back to the inlet manifold. The system also called positive
crankcase ventilation Pcv system.

‫ عباس محمد اسماعيل‬.‫ م‬.‫أ‬ 2

 2. Evaporation Emission Control Denice EECD:
3. Control of Oxides of Nitrogen NOx
The following are the three methods for reducing peak cycle Temperature and thereby
reducing NOx emission.
a) Exhaust gas recirculation EGR part of exhaust gas is reciercutute to the inlet
manifold after passing through control value with filter.
b) catalyst.
c) Water injection
Usually packages of systems is used to control the three types of Engine Emissions.
‫ عباس محمد اسماعيل‬.‫ م‬.‫أ‬ 3
Diesel Engine Emissions:
Emissions from diesel engines can be classified in the same categories as those for the
gasoline engines the level of emission in these categories vary considerably.

Diesel smoke and control:

It is known that the cause of smoke is incomplete burning of fuel inside the combustion
chamber. The incomplete burning produces soot. if this soot is able to find adequate air O2 it
will bum completely, if not, it will pass as exhaust which produce smoke if it's quantity high
enough. The two major reasons for incomplete combustion and as a result of smoke are the
Incorrect (A/f ) ratio and the improper mixing which might result due to:
1- Injection system.
2- Rating: smoke is unavoidable in CI, only its level must be as low as possible.
3- load.
4- Fuel.
5- Fuel-air ratio.
6- Engine type and speed.
7- maintenance.

‫ عباس محمد اسماعيل‬.‫ م‬.‫أ‬ 4