Numerical and experimental investigation on capture of CO2 and other pollutants from an SI engine using the physical adsorption technique

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered as a major contributor to global warming. Automobile contributes to around 65% of total carbon dioxide emissions globally when compared with other sources. On considering the upcoming stringent emission norms, this problem needs to be addressed properly. In this proposed study, an attempt is made to capture CO2 and other emissions from spark ignition engines using activated carbon as an adsorbent. In the initial part of this study, a numerical investigation on backpressure was carried out by varying the porosity factor of activated carbon. Computational analysis is carried out by placing activated carbon at three different variations. It is done by varying three different porosity percentages 30, 35, and 45 by placing activated carbon at three different locations. The final study reveals that activated carbon placed at the PC 35-3 layout shows optimum backpressure and high filtration efficiency when compared with the other two layouts. Then, the PC35-3 layout is fabricated and tested on a three-cylinder, carburetted, variable speed, water-cooled petrol engine at various load conditions (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.). Final results show that considerable amount of hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, and CO2 gets reduced while operating the engine at idle and part load conditions and reduced exhaust gas temperature.