Comparison of Exhaust Gas Emissions of a Vehicle with an Internal Combustion Engine in High and Low Vehicular Congestion for a High Altitude City

Abstract

Abstract Pollution generated by the automotive sector is one of the biggest concerns in the city of Quito. This is due to the fact that the majority of vehicles in the automotive fleet use fossil fuels as a source of propulsion energy. In addition, the heterogeneity of the technologies of the fuel injection systems means that the control of polluting emissions is highly limited. On the other hand, due to the high number of vehicles and the topographical characteristics of the city, high traffic congestion is generated during rush hours, producing abrupt changes in acceleration and reduction of stoichiometric mixtures. Based on the above, it was pertinent to compare the exhaust gas emissions that are produced in high and low vehicular congestion for a vehicle with an internal combustion engine Likewise, the correlations of the gases for both scenarios were determined. To do this, emissions were measured in a Mazda 3 vehicle on a major city route during rush hours and on weekends. A Kane Autoplus gas analyzer was used for exhaust gas measurement, and data logging was done on the Kane Live app. The results showed that in rush hours, the vehicle emits higher amounts of CO 2 , CO, and HC up to 0.7%; 128.5%; and 65.5%, respectively. There are moderate and strong correlations of O 2 -CO 2 and CO-HC in high and low vehicular congestion, with Pearson's correlation values greater than 0.5.

Keywords

• exhaust gases, internal combustion engine, pollution, route, rush hours, traffic.