Emission Standards how far will they go

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.