Exhaust Gas Recirculation

I.C Engines
P-Crank Angle & P-V Diagram

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 Emissions
Motor vehicle emissions are composed of the by-products
that comes out of the exhaust systems or other emissions
such as gasoline evaporation. These emissions contribute
to air pollution and are a major ingredient in the creation
of smog in some large cities.

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 Pollutant formation & Control
⚫ All IC Engines produce undesirable emissions as a
result of combustion, including hydrogen fuelled
engines.
⚫ The emissions of concern are: unburned hydrocarbons
(HC), Carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide and
nitrogen dioxide (No2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and solid
carbon particulates ( Particulate Matter).
⚫ These emissions pollute the environment (Smog, acid
rain) that contribute to respiratory and other health
problems.

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 Pollutant formation & Control
⚫ HC emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles include
a number of toxic substances such as benzene,
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
1,3-Butadiene and three aldehydes (formaldehyde,
acetaldehyde, acrolein).
⚫ Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an emission that is not
regulated but is one of the primary greenhouse gases,
water vapor and methane are the others, believed to be
responsible for global warming.

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 CO2 and Global Warming
⚫ CO2 is a gas in earth’s atmosphere and is currently at a
globally averaged concentration of approximately 383
ppm by volume.
⚫ Atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased by
about 31% since the beginning of the industrial
revolution (mid 1700’s).
⚫ About three-quarters of this is due to the burning of
fossil fuel, the other quarter is mainly due to
deforestation.
⚫ Transportation accounts for about 14% of global
greenhouse gas emissions and 19% of the CO2
emissions.

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 PhotoChemical Smog
⚫ Recipe for smog: sunlight (hv), NO, HC
⚫ NO (small amount of NO2) and hydrocarbons
generated by combustion leads to the formation of
many biological irritants.

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 Gaseous Emissions
Nitrogen Oxides NOx (NO and NO2) – emission
production may take place by any of the following
mechanisms:
Prompt NO – oxidation of Nitrogen during combustion,
generally insignificant
Thermal NO – oxidation of Nitrogen after combustion, most
significant
Fuel NO – primarily for heavier fuels.

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 Gaseous Emissions
⚫ Carbon Monoxide (CO) – produced to incomplete
combustion (lack of oxygen, temperature too low)
⚫ Unburnt hydrocarbons (UHC) – absence of combustion
(unsuitable air/fuel ratio, temperature too low,
scavenging)
⚫ Sulphur oxides (SO2, SO3) – oxidation of sulphur present
in the fuel

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 Solid Emissions
Soot : carbon-based solid elements that can be retrieved
from a heated filter
Particulate Matter – composed of soot and a soluble
organic fraction that can be retrieved on a cold filter
Both linked to a rich combustion, for example during
the cold-start phase of a spark ignition engine

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Solid Carbon particles in Smoke

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 Pollutant Emissions
Following different applications, emissions may be
expressed in g/km (distance) or g/kWh (power).
Concentration at the exhaust tailpipe may also be used –
ppm or % (generally by volume, sometimes by mass)
Emissions standards define measurement cycles and
ever-reducing limits to emissions production.

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Pollutant Emission Reduction
Emissions can be reduced at the source, by modifying or
interacting with the combustion so that less emissions
are produced
By treating the exhaust gases (after-treatment) to
remove pollutants. No after-treatment process is 100%
efficient, therefore it is always interesting to limit
emissions at the source, which for the same reduction
rate, reduces the final tailpipe emissions significantly.

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 SI Engine Emissions

The determining
parameter is the air/fuel
ratio.
CO and HC increase
with a reduction in AFR
(lack of oxygen) or with
an increase of AFR
(insufficient flame front
propagation)
A slightly lean mixture
provides the best
compromise for all three
pollutants

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SI Engine Emission Reduction at the Source
Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) allows us to reduce NOx
emissions by reducing flame temperatures. As long as we
stay below around 20% EGR, CO and HC emissions are not
significantly affected.

CO and HC production
may be reduced by a
“good quality”
combustion (AFR,
squish, etc.), control of
scavenging processes.

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SI Engine Emission After-Treatment
To obtain the lowest emission levels, it is necessary to use an after-treatment
system: 3-way catalytic convertor
The 3-way catalytic convertor uses precious metals for conversion
Most present-day vehicles that run on gasoline are fitted with a "three way"
converter, so named because it converts the three main pollutants in
automobile exhaust: an oxidizing reaction converts carbon monoxide (CO)
and unburned hydrocarbons (HC) to CO2 and water vapour, and a reduction
reaction converts oxides of nitrogen (NOx) to nitrogen (N2).

The convertor is poisoned

by lead, Also badly affected
by Sulphur.

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 Precious Metal
Current generation automotive catalyst material
consists of a ceramic or metallic substrate coated by
an aluminium oxide (Al2O3)-based wash coat. The
most commonly found converters contain a ceramic
substrate (cordierite: 2Al2O3.2SiO2.5MgO) coated with
a precious metal containing washcoat. For certain
applications (reducing back-pressure), a metallic
substrate is preferred over a ceramic substrate,
typically a specially rolled-up thin stainless steel foil
coated with a thin washcoat.

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 Precious Metal
This wash coat contains a combination of platinum
group metals (Pt, Pd, Rh) with other rare earth oxides
such as CeO2, ZrO2, etc. and provide for the catalytic
function. The precious metals platinum (Pt),
palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), iridium (Ir), ruthenium
(Ru) and osmium (Os) are commonly used.

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 Muffler
The muffler shouldn’t be confused with the catalytic
converter. Its function is to reduce the noise from the
exhaust gases flowing out of the exhaust manifold. In
recent decades, the muffler has also become more
complex (consisting of more than a single piece).

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SI engine After-Treatment
A sufficient level of temperature is required for
convertor operation
After cold-starts, a convertor may be ineffective for a
few seconds
A smaller, pre-catalyser may be used which heats up
faster
Emissions may also be trapped and treated later on
when the convertor is up to operating temperature.

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SI engine After-Treatment
The “light-off” time of a catalytic convertor is the
time taken by the catalyser to attain 50% conversion
efficiency.
For automotive driving cycles with cold starts,
emissions are highly dependant on the “light-off”
time.

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SI Engine After-Treatment
For lean-burn engines e.g., oxidation catalysers can
oxidise CO and HC
For Nitrogen Oxides, NOx traps are used – during lean
operation, Nitrogen Oxides are absorbed by the trap.
These oxides are then periodically regenerated by
running the engine rich for a short which reduces the
NOx to Nitrogen.

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SI Engine After Treatment
The theoretical efficiency is high, however, NOx traps
remain sensitive to Sulphur.
These devices are generally coupled with at-the-source
emissions reduction technologies, for example EGR.
At high operating conditions which are managed by the
ECU cause a reduction in fuel efficiency.

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 CI Engines Emissions
NOx emissions are generally of thermal source, and
are formed on the lean side of the diffusion flame.
Soot is formed on the rich side of the flame and then
are partially oxidised
CO and HC levels are generally very low

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CI Engine Emission Reduction at Source
A compromise exists between NOx and PM emissions
rates – higher combustion temperatures favours
particulate oxidation, but increase NOx production
rates.
At the source reduction of NOx generally results an
increase in particulate emissions and an increase in fuel
consumption.

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CI Engine Emission Reduction at Source
Retarding the injection timing causes a reduction in peak
cylinder pressure and temperatures. This has the effect of
softening the combustion event which helps in reduction
of NOx production, at the cost of increase in PM emissions.

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CI Engine Emission Reduction at Source

EGR – could be cooled.

Used almost universally on automobiles and trucks. Limited
to low loads – sooting at high loads due to insufficient air
Principal effect of dilution of the intake charge
Secondary effects – retardation of combustion, increase in
ignition delay, reduction of air availability, decrease in
cylinder filling (due to increase in intake air temperature).

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Cooled EGR allows for a better NOx / PM trade-off
Intake charge composition should be homogenous to
avoid cylinder to cylinder dispersions.
It is in some cases, possible to use so much EGR that the
combustion cools to a point where there is a simultaneous
reduction of both NOx and PM. This happens during
Low-Temperature Combustion (LTC). However, the
emission of CO and HC increase greatly and there is a
marked decrease in fuel efficiency due to the slowing
down of combustion

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CI Engine Emission at Source
Water injection can be performed into the combustion
chamber – direct water injection or water stratification –
or into the intake manifold for intake air humidification
The effect is to reduce temperatures via evaporation and
increase in thermal inertia in the intake and during
compression and combustion
Requires either a source or stock of water. Used for large
marine engines.

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Charge cooling after turbocharging is used to reduce
temperature of intake air. EGR cooling is also used in large
part to reduce the temperature of intake air charge, and
thus the temperature over the whole cycle. Over-reduction
of temperature however, reduces the engine performance
due to an increase in ignition delay and retardation of
combustion.

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 CI engine after Treatment
Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs) reduce CO and HC
emissions
Reduction of NOx poses the same problems as in the case of
lean-burn SI engines. NOx traps are not a perfect solution due
to the presence of Sulphur in diesel fuel.
A technique that has been used with great success on bigger
engines and trucks is Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).
NH3 is injected into the exhaust system before the SCR
catalyser which reduces NOx into water and Nitrogen
Honda has proposed a system that produces its
own NH3 from fuel in the first part of its
catalyser. It has been commercialised in its diesel
road vehicles in Europe since 2008.

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Efficiency of around 80%
Needs a Urea storage and distribution system
May release poisonous NH3 if not dosed correctly

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Particulate Matter (PM) may be filtered by a Diesel
Particulate Filter (DPF). It may be “emptied” or
regenerated by heating to a certain temperature which
burns off the particulates.

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 NOx Emissions
NOx is formed in the combustion chamber of engines,
when high temperatures cause oxygen and nitrogen
(both found in the air supplied for combustion) to
combine.

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 Exhaust Gas Recirculation
A widely adopted route to reduce NOx emissions is
Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR).
This involves recirculating a controllable proportion of
the engine's exhaust back into the intake air. A valve is
usually used to control the flow of gas, and the valve
may be closed completely if required.

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EGR System

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EGR System

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 EGR System Description
The substitution of burnt gas (which takes no further
part in combustion) for oxygen rich air reduces the
proportion of the cylinder contents available for
combustion. This causes a correspondingly lower heat
release and peak cylinder temperature, and reduces
the formation of NOx. The presence of an inert gas in
the cylinder further limits the peak temperature.

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 EGR Cooler
The gas to be recirculated may also be passed through
an EGR cooler, which is usually of the air/water type.
This reduces the temperature of the gas, which
reduces the cylinder charge temperature when EGR is
employed. This has two benefits- the reduction of
charge temperature results in lower peak temperature,
and the greater density of cooled EGR gas allows a
higher proportion of EGR to be used. On a diesel
engine the recirculated fraction may be as high as 50%
under some operating conditions.

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 Advantages of EGR
Reduced NOx
Improved engine life through reduced cylinder
temperatures (particularly exhaust valve life)

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Disadvantages & Difficulties of EGR
Since EGR reduces the available oxygen in the cylinder, the
production of particulates (fuel which has only partially combusted)
is increased when EGR is applied. This has traditionally been a
problem with diesel engines, where the trade-off between NOx and
particulates is a familiar one to calibrators.
The reduction of the oxygen available in the cylinder will reduce the
peak power available from the engine. For this reason the EGR is
usually shut off when full power is demanded, so the EGR approach
to controlling NOx fails in this situation.
The EGR valve can not respond instantly to changes in demand, and
the exhaust gas takes time to flow around the EGR circuit. This
makes the calibration of transient EGR behavior particularly
complex- traditionally the EGR valve has been closed during
transients and then re-opened once steady state is achieved.

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Disadvantages & Difficulties of EGR
The recirculated gas is normally introduced into the intake system
before the intake divide in a multi-cylinder engine. Despite this,
perfect mixing of the gas is impossible to achieve at all engine
speeds / loads and particularly during transient operation. For
example poor EGR distribution cylinder-to-cylinder may result in
one cylinder receiving too much EGR, causing high particulate
emissions, while another cylinder receives too little, resulting in high
NOx emissions from that cylinder.
Although the term EGR usually refers to deliberate, external EGR,
there is also a level of internal EGR. This occurs because the
residual combustion gas remaining in the cylinder at the end of the
exhaust stroke is mixed with the incoming charge. There is therefore
a proportion of internal EGR which must be taken into account when
planning EGR strategies. The scavenging efficiency will vary with
engine load, and in an engine fitted with variable valve timing a
further parameter must be considered.
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