Carbon Monoxide (3)

How to stop carbon monoxide emissions?

You have understood that the major contribution to CO pollution is from transportation sources and gasoline fed internal combustions. Therefore, in order to curb the emission of CO pollution, control measures have been concentrated on the automobiles.

Carbon monoxide emissions may be lowered by using a relatively low air-fuel mixture, that is one in which the weight ratio of air to fuel is relatively high. With air fuel ratios ratios exceeding approximately 16 : 1, an internal combustion engine emits virtually no carbon monoxide.

Automobiles in the present day install catalytic exhaust reactors to reduce carbon monoxide emissions. It works by pumping excess air into the exhaust gas, which is then passed through a catalytic converter in the exhaust systems, resulting in oxidation of CO to CO2.

However, there are still problems retaining to this issue. Catalytic reactors basically lack of sufficiently durable (50,000 driven miles) catalytic material. The catalysts now in use are subjected to poisoning by the adsorption of materials on their surfaces. One of the most efficient catalytic poisons is lead and this is one reason for the development of lead free gasoline.