NO_x emission control in SI engine by adding argon inert gas to intake mixture

The Argon inert gas is used to dilute the intake air of a spark ignition engine to decrease nitrogen oxides and improve the performance of the engine. A research engine Ricardo E6 with variable compression was used in the present work. A special test rig has been designed and built to admit the gas to the intake air of the engine for up to 15% of the intake air. The system could admit the inert gas, oxygen and nitrogen gases at preset amounts. The variables studied included the engine speed, Argon to inlet air ratio, and air to fuel ratio. The results presented here included the combustion pressure, temperature, burned mass fraction, heat release rate, brake power, thermal efficiency, volumetric efficiency, exhaust temperature, brake specific fuel consumption and emissions of CO, CO₂, NO and O₂. It was found that the addition of Argon gas to the intake air of the gasoline engine causes the nitrogen oxide to reduce effectively and also it caused the brake power and thermal efficiency of the engine to increase. Mathematical program has been used to obtain the mixture properties and the heat release when the Argon gas is used.