Effects of oxygen enriched combustion on pollution and performance characteristics of a diesel engine

Oxygen enriched combustion is one of the attractive combustion technologies to control pollution and improve combustion in diesel engines. An experimental test was conducted on a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine to study the impact of oxygen enrichment on pollution and performance parameters by increasing the oxygen concentration of intake air from 21 to 27% by volume. The tests results show that the combustion process was improved as there is an increase in thermal efficiency of 4 to 8 percent and decrease in brake specific fuel consumption of 5 to 12 percent. There is also a substantial decrease in unburned hydro carbon, carbon mono-oxide and smoke density levels to the maximum of 40, 55 and 60 percent respectively. However, there is a considerable increase in nitrogen oxide emissions due to increased combustion temperature and extra oxygen available which needs to be addressed.