Control of aldehyde emissions from copper coated spark ignition engine fueled with alcohol blended gasoline

The major pollutants emitted from spark ignition (SI) engine are carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides which are hazardous to human beings and environment. If the engine is run with alcohol blended alternate fuels, aldehydes are emitted as significant pollutants, which are carcinogenic and harmful in nature. Hence, control of these aldehyde emissions call for immediate attention. Present study is carried out for measurement and control of the aldehyde emissions from a variablecompression ratio, variable-speed, coppercoated spark ignition engine fueled with ethanol blended gasoline (20% V/V) and methanol blended gasoline (20%V/V) fitted with catalytic converter containing sponge iron catalyst. The influence of the engine parameters such as speed, compression ratio and configuration of the engine with and without catalytic converter on the pollutants is studied. The speed of the engine has marginal effect, while load and compression ratio are found to show significant influence on reduction of pollutants. Air injection into the catalytic converter has further reduced the aldehyde emissions by effective oxidation. Copper coated SI engine with alcohol blended gasoline found to decrease the aldehyde emissions considerably when compared to conventional engine with pure gasoline operation.