Pollutant Emissions, Performance and Combustion Characteristics in Diesel Engines at High Altitudes: A Review

Volume: 11 | Issue: 01 | Year 2025 | Subscription
International Journal of Power Electronics Controllers and Converters
Received Date: 02/21/2025
Acceptance Date: 02/14/2025
Published On: 2025-03-05
First Page: 37
Last Page: 50

Journal Menu

By: Srikar Sarma Kona and Navdeep Sharma Dugula

1- Student, Department of Automobile Engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab- 140413, India
2- Assistant Professor, Department of Automobile Engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab- 140413, India

Abstract

At high altitudes, majority of the engines tend to have less power output since the increase in altitude which directly results in lack of oxygen content present in the atmosphere. This paper presented to come up with a systematic work carried out on the existing research efforts regarding the effects of altitude on engines, the changes or modifications that can be applied for the enrichment of oxygen, the design parameters, operating parameters, fuel parameters as well as the emissions produced by them. The research showed that the major effect in power was lowered down combustion characteristics and production of high pollutants in the field of emissions as gaining altitude. NOx emissions were treated as the top most priority that are being released at high altitudes while the other emissions like HC, CO, soot, etc. were considerably low. The studies have also proved that at elevated heights, the oxygen molecules present in the atmosphere are widely spread apart. Henceforth, decreasing the oxygen levels in the surroundings. The after effects of air distribution with respect to oxygen concentration, and higher power/torque demand due to steep climbing requirement of vehicle on hills could disturb the combustion characteristics and efficiency of the engine (particularly in diesel fuel). The power drop affects the fuel economy, reliability, and emissions as the atmospheric pressure and density of the intake air gets reduced while gaining altitude.

Keywords: Heavy-duty diesel engine; high altitude; emissions; performance and combustion, Power output

Loading

Citation:

How to cite this article: Srikar Sarma Kona and Navdeep Sharma Dugula, Pollutant Emissions, Performance and Combustion Characteristics in Diesel Engines at High Altitudes: A Review. International Journal of Power Electronics Controllers and Converters. 2025; 11(01): 37-50p.

How to cite this URL: Srikar Sarma Kona and Navdeep Sharma Dugula, Pollutant Emissions, Performance and Combustion Characteristics in Diesel Engines at High Altitudes: A Review. International Journal of Power Electronics Controllers and Converters. 2025; 11(01): 37-50p. Available from:https://journalspub.com/publication/ijpecc/article=16335

Refrences:

  1. Human, D. M., Ullman, T. L., & Baines, T. M. (1990). Simulation of High-Altitude Effects on Heavy-Duty Diesel Emissions. In JOURNAL OF ENGINES, Part (Vol. 99). https://about.jstor.org/terms
  2. Liu, R., Zhang, Z., Dong, S., & Zhou, G. (2017). High-Altitude Matching Characteristic of Regulated Two-Stage Turbocharger with Diesel Engine. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 139(9). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4036283
  3. Shannak, B. A., & Alhasan, M. (2002). Effect of atmospheric altitude on engine performance. Forschung Im Ingenieurwesen/Engineering Research, 67(4), 157–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10010-002-0087-y
  4. Song, J., Zello, V., Boehman, A. L., & Waller, F. J. (2004). Comparison of the impact of intake oxygen enrichment and fuel oxygenation on diesel combustion and emissions. Energy and Fuels, 18(5), 1282–1290. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef034103p
  5. Benjumea, P., Agudelo, J., & Agudelo, A. (2009). Effect of altitude and palm oil biodiesel fuelling on the performance and combustion characteristics of a HSDI diesel engine. Fuel, 88(4), 725–731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2008.10.011
  6. Perez, P. L., & Boehman, A. L. (2010). Performance of a single-cylinder diesel engine using oxygen-enriched intake air at simulated high-altitude conditions. Aerospace Science and Technology, 14(2), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2009.08.001
  7. He, C., Ge, Y., Ma, C., Tan, J., Liu, Z., Wang, C., Yu, L., & Ding, Y. (2011). Emission characteristics of a heavy-duty diesel engine at simulated high altitudes. Science of the Total Environment, 409(17), 3138–3143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.01.029
  8. McCormick, R. L., Graboski, M. S., Alleman, T. L., & Yanowitz, J. (2000). Idle emissions from heavy-duty diesel and natural gas vehicles at high altitude. Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, 50(11), 1992–1998. https://doi.org/10.1080/10473289.2000.10464229
  9. Li, H., Biller, P., Hadavi, S. A., Andrews, G. E., Przybyla, G., & Lea-Langton, A. (2013). Assessing combustion and emission performance of direct use of SVO in a diesel engine by oxygen enrichment of intake air method. Biomass and Bioenergy, 51, 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.12.039
  10. Cacua, K., Amell, A., & Cadavid, F. (2012). Effects of oxygen enriched air on the operation and performance of a diesel-biogas dual fuel engine. Biomass and Bioenergy, 45, 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.06.003
  11. Wang, X., Ge, Y., Yu, L., & Feng, X. (2013). Effects of altitude on the thermal efficiency of a heavy-duty diesel engine. Energy, 59, 543–548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.06.050
  12. Wang, X., Yin, H., Ge, Y., Yu, L., Xu, Z., Yu, C., Shi, X., & Liu, H. (2013). On-vehicle emission measurement of a light-duty diesel van at various speeds at high altitude. Atmospheric Environment, 81, 263–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.09.015
  13. Wang, X., Ge, Y., & Yu, L. (2013). Combustion and Emission Characteristics of a Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine at Idle at Various Altitudes. Source: SAE International Journal of Engines, 6(2), 1145–1151. https://doi.org/10.2307/26277689
  14. Wang, X., Ge, Y., Yu, L., & Feng, X. (2013). Comparison of combustion characteristics and brake thermal efficiency of a heavy-duty diesel engine fueled with diesel and
    biodiesel at high altitude. Fuel, 107, 852–858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.01.060
  15. Cacua, K., Amell, A., & Cadavid, F. (2012). Effects of oxygen enriched air on the operation and performance of a diesel-biogas dual fuel engine. Biomass and Bioenergy, 45, 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.06.003
  16. Baskar, P., & Senthil Kumar, A. (2017). Experimental investigation on performance characteristics of a diesel engine using diesel-water emulsion with oxygen enriched air. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 56(1), 137–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.09.014
  17. Ramos, Á., García-Contreras, R., & Armas, O. (2016). Performance, combustion timing and emissions from a light duty vehicle at different altitudes fueled with animal fat biodiesel, GTL and diesel fuels. Applied Energy, 182, 507–517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.08.159
  18. Kan, Z. C., Lou, D. M., Cao, Z. Z., Hu, Z. Y., Liu, S., & Yang, Z. H. (2017). EFFECTS OF ALTITUDE ON COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTIC DURING COLD START OF HEAVY-DUTY DIESEL ENGINE. International Journal of Automotive Technology, 18(2), 209–217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239−017−0020−x
  19. Gong, C., Li, J., Peng, L., Chen, Y., Liu, Z., Wei, F., & Liu, F. (2019). Numerical investigation of intake oxygen enrichment effects on radicals, combustion and unregulated emissions during cold start in a DISI methanol engine. Fuel, 253, 1406– 1413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.05.140
  20. Giraldo, M., & Huertas, J. I. (2019). Real emissions, driving patterns and fuel consumption of in-use diesel buses operating at high altitude. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 77, 21–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.10.004
  21. Xu, Z., Ji, F., Ding, S., Zhao, Y., Zhang, X., Zhou, Y., Zhang, Q., & Du, F. (2020). High-altitude performance and improvement methods of poppet valves 2-stroke aircraft diesel engine. Applied Energy, 276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115471
  22. Shi, C., Ji, C., Wang, S., Yang, J., Ma, Z., & Meng, H. (2020). Potential improvement in combustion behavior of a downsized rotary engine by intake oxygen enrichment. Energy Conversion and Management, 205.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.112433
  23. Martínez, J., Robles, L., Montalvo, F., Baño Morales, D., & Zambrano, I. (2022). Effects of altitude in the performance of a spark ignition internal combustion engine. Materials Today: Proceedings, 49, 72–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.07.475
  24. Wang, J., Shen, L., Bi, Y., & Lei, J. (2021). Modelling and optimization of a light-duty diesel engine at high altitude with a support vector machine and a genetic algorithm. Fuel, 285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.119137
  25. Liu, Z., & Liu, J. (2022). Effect of altitude conditions on combustion and performance of a turbocharged direct-injection diesel engine. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 236(4), 582–593. https://doi.org/10.1177/09544070211026204

 Previous Article
Next Article

Powered by
►
Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.
None
►
Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.
None
►
Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.
None
►
Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
None
Powered by