Effects of intake air temperature on SI engine emissions during a cold start

This paper presents the concept of preheating the intake air to reduce cold-start emissions from gasoline engines. The effects of intake air temperature on emissions from a gasoline engine were studied by using an air heater based on spark ignition. A light-duty vehicle test of cold-start emissions was carried out at an ambient temperature of -7 degrees C according to New European Driving Cycle for Euro 3 and Euro 4 exhaust emission legislations. The results showed that preheating the intake air could effectively reduce both hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions and improve fuel economy during a cold start. During idling conditions, the key phase of the HC and CO emissions was the first 40 s. With the aid of the air heater, cold-start HC and CO emissions from the vehicle were lower than the limit values in the Euro 3 and Euro 4 regulations.