Emission analysis of a CI engine during cold weather conditions using pre-heated air and engine using waste energy and phase-change material

Environmental pollution due to emissions from an IC engine is an important problem appearing under cold weather conditions. In this study, air pre-heating as well as pre-heating of the IC engine is done to ensure efficient combustion and reduction in emission level during a cold start. A thermal energy storage device (TESD) and an air pre-heater is designed and tested for the purpose of pre-heating. The TESD contains paraffin as a phase-changing material which works on the principle of absorption and rejection of thermal energy during the phase-changing temperature Normal, discharge and pre-heat emissions for diesel and different blends of Karanja oil are compared. From the experiment, it is observed that carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC) and smoke emissions are reduced during engine pre-heating and air pre-heating compared to normal condition with respect to increase in time and load at compression ratio 18.