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Pollutants Produced by A Car Engine: Gasoline

The document discusses various emissions control systems used in modern car engines, including: 1. Catalytic converters which use platinum and other precious metal catalysts to reduce harmful emissions like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides through oxidation and reduction reactions. 2. Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) systems which prevent crankcase vapors from being expelled into the atmosphere by routing them into the intake manifold to be burned. 3. Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) systems which recirculate a portion of exhaust gas back into the intake manifold to reduce NOx emissions by lowering combustion temperatures. 4. Pulse air injection systems which inject

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Harpreet Randhawa
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108 views

Pollutants Produced by A Car Engine: Gasoline

The document discusses various emissions control systems used in modern car engines, including: 1. Catalytic converters which use platinum and other precious metal catalysts to reduce harmful emissions like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides through oxidation and reduction reactions. 2. Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) systems which prevent crankcase vapors from being expelled into the atmosphere by routing them into the intake manifold to be burned. 3. Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) systems which recirculate a portion of exhaust gas back into the intake manifold to reduce NOx emissions by lowering combustion temperatures. 4. Pulse air injection systems which inject

Uploaded by

Harpreet Randhawa
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pollutants Produced by a Car Engine

In order to reduce emissions, modern car engines carefully control the amount of fuel they burn.
They try to keep the air-to-fuel ratio very close to the stoichiometric point, which is the ideal ratio of
air to fuel. Theoretically, at this ratio, all of the fuel will be burned using all of the oxygen in the air.
For gasoline, the stoichiometric ratio is about 14.7:1, meaning that for each pound of gasoline, 14.7
pounds of air will be burned. The fuel mixture actually varies from the ideal ratio quite a bit during
driving. Sometimes the mixture can be lean (an air-to-fuel ratio higher than 14.7), and other times
the mixture can be rich (an air-to-fuel ratio lower than 14.7).
The main emissions of a car engine are:
Nitrogen gas (N2) - Air is 78-percent nitrogen gas, and most of this passes right through the car
engine.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) - This is one product of combustion. The carbon in the fuel bonds with the
oxygen in the air.
Water vapor (H2O) - This is another product of combustion. The hydrogen in the fuel bonds with the
oxygen in the air.
These emissions are mostly benign, although carbon dioxide emissions are believed to contribute to
global warming. Because the combustion process is never perfect, some smaller amounts of more
harmful emissions are also produced in car engines. Catalytic converters are designed to reduce all
three:
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas that is colorless and odorless.
Hydrocarbons or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a major component of smog produced
mostly from evaporated, unburned .fuel.
Nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2, together called NOx) are a contributor to smog and acid rain, which
also causes irritation to human mucus membranes.
Four of the most important emission control systems used today are the catalytic
converter, pulse air injection system, EGR or Exhaust Gas Recirculation and Positive
Crankcase Ventilation.

1. CATALYTIC CONVERTER

How Catalytic Converters Reduce Pollution


In chemistry, a catalyst is a substance that causes
or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself
being affected. Catalysts participate in the
reactions, but are neither reactants nor products of
the reaction they catalyze. In the catalytic
converter, there are two different types of catalyst
at work, a reduction catalyst and an oxidation
catalyst. Both types consist of a ceramic structure
coated with a metal catalyst, usually platinum,
rhodium and/or palladium. The idea is to create a
structure that exposes the maximum surface area
of catalyst to the exhaust stream, while also
minimizing the amount of catalyst required, as the
materials are extremely expensive. Some of the
newest converters have even started to use gold
mixed with the more traditional catalysts. Gold is
cheaper than the other materials and could
increase oxidation, the chemical reaction that

reduces pollutants, by up to 40 percent .


Most modern cars are equipped with three-way catalytic converters. This refers to the three
regulated emissions it helps to reduce.

The reduction catalyst is the first stage of the catalytic converter. It uses platinum and rhodium
to help reduce the NOx emissions. When an NO or NO2 molecule contacts the catalyst, the
catalyst rips the nitrogen atom out of the molecule and holds on to it, freeing the oxygen in the
form of O2. The nitrogen atoms bond with other nitrogen atoms that are also stuck to the
catalyst, forming N2. For example:
2NO => N2 + O2 or 2NO2 => N2 + 2O2

The oxidation catalyst is the second stage of the


catalytic converter. It reduces the unburned
hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by burning
(oxidizing) them over a platinum and palladium
catalyst. This catalyst aids the reaction of the CO
and hydrocarbons with the remaining oxygen in the
exhaust gas. For example:
2CO + O2 => 2CO2
There are two main types of structures used in
catalytic converters -- honeycomb and ceramic
ceramic honeycomb structure
beads. Most cars today use a honeycomb structure.
The third stage of conversion is a control system that monitors the exhaust stream, and uses this
information to control the fuel injection system. There is an oxygen sensor mounted upstream of
the catalytic converter, meaning it is closer to the engine than the converter. This sensor tells the
engine computer how much oxygen is in the exhaust. The engine computer can increase or
decrease the amount of oxygen in the exhaust by adjusting the air-to-fuel ratio. This control
scheme allows the engine computer to make sure that the engine is running at close to the
stoichiometric point, and also to make sure that there is enough oxygen in the exhaust to allow
the oxidization catalyst to burn the unburned hydrocarbons and CO.

One of its biggest shortcomings is that it only works at a fairly high temperature. When you start
your car cold, the catalytic converter does almost nothing to reduce the pollution in your
exhaust.
One simple solution to this problem is to move the catalytic converter closer to the engine. This
means that hotter exhaust gases reach the converter and it heats up faster, but this may also
reduce the life of the converter by exposing it to extremely high temperatures.
Positive Crankcase Ventilation
Positive Crankcase Ventilation is a system that was
developed to remove
harmful vapors from the engine and to prevent those
vapors from being expelled
into the atmosphere. The PCV system does this by using
manifold vacuum to
draw vapors from the crankcase into the intake manifold.
Vapor is then carried
with the fuel/air mixture into the combustion chambers
where it is burned. The
flow or circulation within the system is controlled by the
PCV Valve. The PCV
Valve is effective as both a crankcase ventilation system
and as a pollution
control device.
The PCV Valve
The most critical part in the PCV system is the flow control valve, commonly
referred to as the PCV valve. The purpose of the PCV valve is to meter the flow
of the vapor from the crankcase to the intake manifold. This is necessary in order
to provide proper ventilation for the crankcase, while not upsetting the fuel/air
mixture for combustion.
Blow-by gases and vapor should be removed at about the same rate they enter
the crankcase. Since blow-by is minimal at idle and increases during high speed
operation, the PCV valve must control the flow of vapor accordingly. The PCV
valve is designed to compensate for the engine ventilation needs at varying
engine speeds. It is operated by manifold vacuum which increases or decreases
as engine speeds change.
EGR- EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION
Pulse air injection system (PAIR)

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