There are many issues that face Mechanical Engineers
and society today. The issue of combustion engines and emissions is an issue
that Mechanical Engineers look at every day. Let’s take a look at diesel
engines in particular.
Diesel engines have been known for producing exhaust
containing fine particles that can cause short term dizziness, nausea, and
coughing. Diesel engines have also been
known to cause long term conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cardiopulmonary
disease, and lung cancer. So what does
society do; get rid of diesel engines and set back multiple industries that
rely on diesel engines?
Instead of getting rid of diesel engines society has
chosen to place emission standards on engines to clean up the exhaust fumes
produced by these engines. This has caused Mechanical Engineers to take a close
look at the designs of diesel engines and the exhaust fumes produced by these
engines.
Engineers have made changes to the diesel engines to
reduce the “black
smoke” produced from diesel engines at full power when pulling a load and at
start up conditions. The restrictions
placed on diesel engines emissions have forced the diesel engine industry to
look to alternatives such as biodiesels and the use of catalytic converters,
and changing the refining process.
The refining process has been changed to remove the
sulfur content from diesel fuels before they are ever burned in a diesel
engine. This change removed the strong odor that was associated with diesel
fuel in the past.
Catalytic converters
have cleaned up some of the harmful particles from the exhaust. The function of
the catalytic converter is to convert these harmful chemicals into less noxious
substances. The strict standards of today have made the catalytic converter
inefficient in meeting the emission standards and more steps have become
necessary.
Biodiesels help meet emission requirements because
they burn cleaner but are not sufficient enough to help diesel engines meet the
requirements along with catalytic converters and the renewed refining process.
As emission standards continue to become stricter and
force diesel engines to become more efficient how diesel engines will meet
those standards becomes a big issue. Diesel engine designers need the funding
to research new technologies for limiting exhaust gases while maintaining
efficiency and performance of diesel engines.
Many companies are now leaning toward Precombustion
Chamber (PCC),
Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
Technology and Injection Timing Retard Technology (ITR) to help meet the emission
standards of today and tomorrow.
The issue of emission regulations is a constantly
changing issue that causes a problem for diesel engine manufacturers and the
industry that relies on the use of diesel engines. Where does society draw the line on emission regulations? If society continues on this strict emission
regulation path how long will it be before industry is looking for a
replacement for the diesel engine because they can’t meet the emission
requirements. While engine emissions need to be regulated there has to be a
standard time limit that allows engine designers and manufactures the time to
produce the technologies needed to meet these requirements. There also needs to be sufficient funding for
research to meet these emission standards of the future if society wants to
continue to use diesel engines for agricultural equipment and construction
equipment.