Exhaust Emissions (exhaust + emission)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Magnetic quantification of urban pollution sources in atmospheric particulate matter

GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2004
S. Spassov
SUMMARY A new method is presented for fast quantification of urban pollution sources in atmospheric particulate matter (PM). The remanent magnetization of PM samples collected in Switzerland at sites with different exposures to pollution sources is analysed. The coercivity distribution of each sample is calculated from detailed demagnetization curves of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) and is modelled using a linear combination of appropriate functions which represent the contribution of different sources of magnetic minerals to the total magnetization. Two magnetic components, C1 and C2, are identified in all samples. The low-coercivity component C1 predominates in less polluted sites, whereas the concentration of the higher-coercivity component C2 is large in urban areas. The same sites were monitored independently by Hüglin using detailed chemical analysis and a quantitative source attribution of the PM. His results are compared with the magnetic component analysis. The absolute and relative magnetic contributions of component C2 correlate very well with absolute and relative mass contributions of exhaust emissions, respectively. Traffic is the most important PM pollution source in Switzerland: it includes exhaust emissions and abrasion products released by vehicle brakes. Component C2 and traffic-related PM sources correlate well, which is encouraging for the implementation of non-destructive magnetic methods as an economic alternative to chemical analysis when mapping urban dust pollution. [source]


Influence of advanced injection timing on the performance and emissions of CI engine fueled with ethanol-blended diesel fuel

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 11 2008
Cenk Sayin
Abstract Ethanol has been considered as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. On the other hand, injection timing is a major parameter that sensitively affects the engine performance and emissions. Therefore, in this study, the influence of advanced injection timing on the engine performance and exhaust emissions of a single cylinder, naturally aspirated, four stroke, direct injection diesel engine has been experimentally investigated when using ethanol-blended diesel fuel from 0 to 15% with an increment of 5%. The original injection timing of the engine is 27° crank angle (CA) before top dead center (BTDC). The tests were conducted at three different injection timings (27, 30 and 33° CA BTDC) for 30 Nm constant load at 1800 rpm. The experimental results showed that brake-specific energy consumption (BSEC), brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), NOx and CO2 emissions increased as brake-thermal efficiency (BTE), smoke, CO and HC emissions decreased with increasing amount of ethanol in the fuel mixture. Comparing the results with those of original injection timing, NOx emissions increased and smoke, HC and CO emissions decreased for all test fuels at the advanced injection timings. For BSEC, BSFC and BTE, advanced injection timings gave negative results for all test conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Shortest path stochastic control for hybrid electric vehicles

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 14 2008
Edward Dean Tate Jr
Abstract When a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is certified for emissions and fuel economy, its power management system must be charge sustaining over the drive cycle, meaning that the battery state of charge (SOC) must be at least as high at the end of the test as it was at the beginning of the test. During the test cycle, the power management system is free to vary the battery SOC so as to minimize a weighted combination of fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. This paper argues that shortest path stochastic dynamic programming (SP-SDP) offers a more natural formulation of the optimal control problem associated with the design of the power management system because it allows deviations of battery SOC from a desired setpoint to be penalized only at key off. This method is illustrated on a parallel hybrid electric truck model that had previously been analyzed using infinite-horizon stochastic dynamic programming with discounted future cost. Both formulations of the optimization problem yield a time-invariant causal state-feedback controller that can be directly implemented on the vehicle. The advantages of the shortest path formulation include that a single tuning parameter is needed to trade off fuel economy and emissions versus battery SOC deviation, as compared with two parameters in the discounted, infinite-horizon case, and for the same level of complexity as a discounted future-cost controller, the shortest-path controller demonstrates better fuel and emission minimization while also achieving better SOC control when the vehicle is turned off. Linear programming is used to solve both stochastic dynamic programs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Suicidal Asphyxiation by Inhalation of Automobile Emission without Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 5 2006
Stephen J. DeRoux M.D.
ABSTRACT: Reported herein is the suicidal asphyxiation of a young man due to exhaustion of oxygen in the interior of a sealed automobile into which the exhaust emissions were diverted. His blood carboxyhemaglobin concentration was less than 5% saturation. The car was equipped with a catalytic converter and when tested, the exhaust carbon monoxide concentration was 0.01%. [source]


Functional properties of microstructured cylinder liner surfaces for internal combustion engines

LUBRICATION SCIENCE, Issue 4 2005
R. Golloch
Abstract Internal combustion engines are still of major importance as propulsion systems. To fulfil future market and legislative demands it is necessary to improve engine performance, reduce fuel consumption, and limit exhaust emissions. Mechanical and thermodynamic losses, wear, and the emissions caused by lubricating oil combustion are principally influenced by the tribological behaviour of the piston assembly. The trend towards compact engines with high power densities and increased thermomechanical loads increases the importance of this tribological system and requires new approaches. One promising possibility is the utilisation of liner surfaces with specially machined microstructures. This paper describes a comparison between a conventional liner surface and a laser-structured liner as regards their tribological behaviour. Measurements of wear as well as of oil film thickness and friction force in operation have been carried out. The results show better tribological behaviour for the laser-structured liner surface than for the conventional plateau-honed surface. This leads to lower fuel consumption and less wear. [source]


Direct use of vegetable oil and animal fat as alternative fuel in internal combustion engine

BIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 2 2008
Pinaki Mondal
Abstract Gradual depletion of world petroleum reserves and the impact of environmental pollution of increasing exhaust emissions lead to the search for a suitable alternative fuels for diesel engines. The substitution of conventional fuels (gasoline, diesel) by renewable biofuels is considered a potential way to reduce pollution and to support the sustainable development of a country. Direct use of vegetable oil and animal fat is a promising alternative to solve these problems. An exhaustive review of the experiments in this area, carried out by several researchers in last three decades, is presented here. Different problems associated with the direct use of vegetable oil and animal fat and potential solutions from both public and private sectors are discussed. Some engine manufacturers have started to launch full-warranty engines with vegetable oil as fuel. It is expected that the competitive engine market will witness more intense research, resulting in the launch of more vegetable-oil engines with full warranties. The steep rise in food prices in recent years is concerning policy-makers and has raised the old ,food vs fuel' debate. It has been concluded that vegetable oil can probably only substitute small to medium portions of petroleum-based fuel due to future severe land-usage competition from food sector. This calls for intense research initiatives into the production of suitable fuel from non-edible vegetable oil, grown in wasteland. In this regard, genetic engineering may prove to be extremely effective in developing ,designer fuel'. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source]