Combustion Laboratory Exercise

Experiment

The aim of the experiment is to study the effect of air/fuel ratio on thermal efficiency
and emission from the vehicle having spark ignition engine. We know that if the strength of
the mixture is too rich, the fuel will not burn completely and hence we observe low thermal
efficiency and also leads to emission of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. If the mixture is
too lean that is if the strength of the mixture is weak the engine misfires or partial burns
occurs during combustion. To measure the engine exhaust emission with respect to air/fuel
ratio we will run the spark ignition engine in the laboratory with changing air/fuel ratio
throughout the experiment.

Initially the engine was set to a full throttle and the load was adjusted to fix the
engine speed at 2500rpm and then the throttle position was kept 100% and the readings for
CO2, O2, CO, NO, HC, EGT were taken by altering the Fuel flow and the Air flow i.e. adjusting
the mixture strength going inside the combustion chamber vis-a-vis controlling the Air Fuel
Ratio.

Measurements made

For Test 1: Throttle position 100, Engine speed @ 2500 RPM, Ambient temp 9.8 oC
and humidity 59.4%.

1) EGT (oC): Exhaust gas temperature was taken by changing the air/fuel ratio starting
from 18 to 11 which increases as the mixture becomes lean.
2) HC (ppm): Eight different readings were taken for amount of hydrocarbon emitted
and measured by keeping the above conditions constant and results were taken as
shown in below table.
3) CO (%): The amount of carbon monoxide emission readings were taken complying to
above conditions during measurement. The amount of carbon monoxide goes on
increasing
4) CO2 (%): The amount of carbon dioxide emission readings were taken complying to
the above conditions during measurement. The amount of carbon dioxide goes on
increasing
5) O2 (%): We also measure the amount of oxygen emitted in exhaust for different
air/fuel ratio.
6) NO (ppm): The emission of Nitrous oxide is evident due to change in air/fuel ratio so
it is inevitable for us to measure the amount of NOx gases released from exhaust.

For Test 2: Throttle position 50%, Engine speed @ 2500 RPM, Ambient temp 9.8 oC
and humidity 59.4%. Same above quantities was measured for throttle position at half.
Errors

The errors in measurement can lead to wrong results while doing final calculation to
figure out the prefect value for air fuel ratio. For example the air fuel ratio calculated from
Fuel flow and air flow measurement does not matches with the air fuel ratio noted on ECM
lambda sensor. Both the results can be found deviating even if we consider the error
displayed by the lambda sensor. The deviation in the results can significantly affect the
calculation and tend to mislead the observer.

Discussion:

A) From the experimental data we can say that amount of hydrocarbons emitted is
inversely proportional to the mixture strength. As the mixture becomes rich with fuel the
excessive emissions of HC is caused. Formation of NOx is observed being minimum when
the mixture is too lean or too rich however NOx is much greater near the Stoichiometric or
at the ideal level which means excessively lean or rich air/fuel ratio will have less NOx
content.

As far as exhaust temperatures are concerned they are observed less towards
excessive lean or rich mixture however near Stoichiometric temperature is found to be
highest. The Exhaust Gas Temperature rapidly increase as the throttle is opened and as the
load on the engine is increased.

B) The term engine emission refers to pollutants in the engine exhaust like carbon
monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), unburnt hydro carbons (HC) and carbon dioxide
(CO2). These emissions are worse from spark ignition engines than compression ignition
engines. With lean mixtures CO is always present owing to dissociation, but the
concentration reduces with reducing combustion temperature.

Emission control measures by manufacturers.

Emissions of gases can be reduced by operating with lean mixtures but disadvantage is that
we reduce the engine power output. Hydro carbon emissions are reduced by excess air i.e. a
lean mixture until the reduced flammability of the mixtures causes a net increase in HC
emissions. If the flame temperature or burn duration is reduced, the NOx emissions will also
be reduced.

 
Emission control devices:
 Fuel evaporation control (fuel tank).
 Air intake temperature.
 Exhaust gas recycling.
 Removing the unwanted pollutant gases (catalytic converter).
 Engine modifications.
 Alternatively fueled engines.
 
C) NOx is formed when flame temperature is high i.e. increase in flame temperature will
increase the formation of NOx. It also implies that highest concentration of NOx is for
slightly rich mixtures and has the highest flame temperature. However, oxygen is also
needed for the formation of NOx. So the maximum NOx occur just close of Stoichiometric
where oxygen supply is sufficient for complete fuel burn. Nox formation is also influenced by
flame speed. Lower flame speeds with lean mixtures provides a longer time for NOx to form.
Similarly, NOx emission increases with reduce in engine speed.