TECHNICAL EVOLUTION AND ADVANCEMENT SCENARIO OF INDIAN DIESEL GENETS ENGINES FROM LAST DECADE FOR ACHIEVING STRINGENT EMISSION NORMS

Abstract

Diesel operated generating (DG) sets play a vital  and  important role in Indian emission, technology and economic perspective. During last two decades, demand of the DG sets surged dramatically due to the boom in telecom, IT and IT related sectors. However, the generation and supply of captive power from various sources remained sluggish and could not be able to meet the swelling power demand, this situation created production of DG engines in large numbers. Due to the rise in volume of the diesel engines used as a prime power source, the harmful pollutants emitted by these sets are increasing alarmingly. The pollutants emitted by these sets affect the human life and the environment very seriously. Because of the increasing discharge of these pollutants, the concerned authorities/regulatory bodies imposed the limits on the pollutants emitted by these engines. The first ever regulation on the pollutants was implemented in the year 2003 and with second amendment in the year 2004. Subsequently the limits are being tightened in the year 2014.

The gradual tightening of the limits of pollutants compelled and initiated the manufacturers to implement and incorporate the high end technology features in their engines to counter the generation of these emissions.

The objective of this paper is to study the evolution of technology right from the pre and post regulation period.  This paper gives the collection and segregation of data, data analysis of different category of engines having different power, different configuration, fuel consumption, and emission trends for different categories of engines. The study also includes the overview of different technology used to meet emission norms, impact of this on reduction in pollution, etc.

In this paper, the technological advancements of diesel engines from year 2004 to 2014 to meet the stricter emission norms are discussed.  During the above period, various engine development programs have shaped up. Up-gradation of naturally aspirated to turbocharged and intercooled versions, air-cooled to liquid-cooled types is happened. In-cylinder combustion optimization started extensively, injection pressures are increased, injection timings are tuned with optimized compression ratios, fuel pump technology advanced with featured like timing advance-retard, injectors and nozzles are improved. Some engines are migrated from IDI to DI where as IDI combustion technology improved to meet stricter emission norms. With further tightening of limits, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR), oxidation catalysts (Oxicat) are being tried.