Reduction of nitric oxide in automobile engine exhaust by ethane--air injection
Previous work has shown that hydrocarbon-oxygen mixtures can be effective reductants for NO in simulated combustion exhaust gases. Specifically, this work suggests that hydrocarbon-oxygen mixtures might prove to be effective NO reductants in the exhaust gases from automotive engines. To investigate this possibility, a 1970 Ford 302 V8 engine was equipped with a suitable exhaust gas injection system and exhaust manifold reactor which made it possible to investigate this reduction chemistry in the exhaust gas. The results of these engine tests, in which NO, CO, CO/sub 2/, O/sub 2/, and hydrocarbons and sometimes HCN were measured, are reported in this paper. They show that such hydrocarbon-air injection can indeed significantly reduce exhaust gas NO concentration under some engine operating conditions.