Modeling and Control of Cold Start

Hydrocarbon Emissions

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of
Bachelor of Engineering
in
Mechanical Engineering
 COLD EMISSION

Submitted by:- Guided by:-

Abhijit Jain 46003 Prof. Chandra Bhushan Pawar
Ankit Bajaj 46011 (Mechanical engg. Department)
Avinash Bhite 46017
Deepti Kapil 46021
 INTRODUCTION
• It has been seen that nearly 80% of the total HC
emissions in a typical drive cycle, takes place during
cold start operation of the engine. This is because,
engine produces more hydrocarbon emissions
during cold start, and the catalytic converter being
inactive till it achieved it’s ‘‘LIGHT OFF
TEMPRATURE’’(50% efficiency).
Our aim is to reduce the time
required to achieve this particular temperature.
WHAT CATALYTIC CONVERTER IS ?
A catalytic converter is a device used to reduce
the toxicity of emissions from an internal
combustion engine.
In the catalytic converter,
there are two different
types of catalyst at work, a
 reduction catalyst and an
oxidation catalyst.
Catalytic Converter:

• Consists of an active catalytic material in a specially designed metal

casing, which directs the exhaust gas through the catalyst bed

• Active material (noble metals like platinum, palladium and rhodium or

base metals like copper and chromium)

Two types of configurations are commonly used,

• Ceramic honeycomb or matrix structure- also called monolith

• A bed of spherical ceramic pellets

  Three-way catalyst consists of:
 
• Rhodium – the principal metal used to remove NO
 
• Platinum – the principal metal used to remove HC and CO
 
NO reacts with CO, HC and H2 via reduction reactions on the surface of the catalyst.
  2NO => N2 + O2 or 2NO2 => N2 + 2O2

Remaining CO and HC are removed through an oxidation reaction

forming CO2 and H2O in the products.
2CO + O2 => 2CO2

Light-off temperature: The temperature at which the catalytic converter becomes

50% efficient. It is approximately 270oC for oxidation of HC
and about 220oC for oxidation of CO.
 

Conversion efficiency at fully warmed up condition is 98-99% for CO and 95% for HC,
depending on the HC components.
 
 Reduction Catalyst

• Dual bed catalytic converters were used to control NOx emissions as well .
In this arrangement, the first bed, or catalyst, typically reduces NOx, and
the second bed is used to oxidize CO and HC emissions. A reducing
catalyst requires rich operation of the engine; therefore an even higher
fuel economy penalty was paid by this approach. Secondary air was
injected into the catalyst between the two beds to provide the excess
oxygen needed to allow proper oxidation of the exhaust as well. An
additional disadvantage of this approach is that Ammonia (NH3) is
produced during the reduction stage and later partially re-oxidized into
NOx emissions at the tailpipe.
 Oxidizing Catalyst

The first type of catalytic converters used was of oxidation type. For an
oxidation catalyst to function, excess air (oxygen) is required in the exhaust
stream. This was typically performed by pumping secondary air into the
exhaust manifold upstream of the catalyst. However, the use of the air pump
resulted in a significant power loss of the engine and fuel economy suffered as
a result. Major drawback of these catalysts was they had little effect on NO x
emissions.
• Commercial catalytic converter takes 2-3 min.of
warm up time .
• To reduce this time we are brainstorming for following ideas:-

1. By using electric heater:-

one way of achieving the early light off temperature is to supply the
heat with the help of an electrical heater . The battery driven heater
is a convenient option for our purpose.

But calculations proves that a normal 12v battery of comercial

automobiles requires more than 3 mins to heat it to required
tempetature.
2. By using an variable conductance vacuum insulation:-
An insulator material can be used in order to maintain the light of temp of the
converter for a long time. a properly insulated converter can retain the temperature
of 300degree Celsius up to 24 hours. but in order to avoid the over heating especial
hydrogen metals and compounds can be used.
3.By placing converter near exhaust manifold
Its an easy and effective method to utilize all available exhaust energy to
quickly heat up the catalytic converter, but the basic flaw in this approach is
after 1000deg Celsius catalytic converter stops functioning properly and after
1200deg Celsius it begins to melt ,so its important to maintain a safe distance
from exhaust manifold.
4. By exhaust gas recirculation using temperature
dependent sensor.

Exhaust gas can be re-circulated by providing duct concentric with the catalytic
converter and gases will be re-circulated till the light off temperature is
achieved and then a temperature dependent valve will allow the gases to
exhaust in atmosphere.
 Electrically heated catalytic converters
catalytic converter is divided in two parts, main and secondary catalytic
converter. Secondary catalytic converter is having less thermal mass than the
main catalytic converter; hence electric supply is given to it directly from the
alternator. Thus it achieves light off temperature quickly. It can be turned off
after sufficient temperature is reached.
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THANK YOU!!!!!!!