Experimental investigation of HC and CO emission reduction from a diesel engine powered by plastic oil blend using fly ash as catalyst

Catalytic converter is an after-treatment technique used to control the emissions in internal combustion (IC) engines. Fly ash produced in the thermal power plant causes substantial environmental problems. In this study, waste fly ash is used as a suitable catalytic material in the catalytic converter for reducing hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from the diesel engine powered with the plastic oil blend (50% Diesel + 50% Plastic Oil). The fly ash was molded into solid for the catalytic converter by treatment with dilute sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The experimental investigations were done with and without the prepared catalytic converter system at the exhaust with various engine loads (0, 1.3, 2.6, 3.9 and 5.2 kW). HC and CO emissions significantly reduced by 12.9% and 25%, respectively, at the full load conditions under the usage of the fly ash-based catalytic converter. This established the suitability of the waste fly ash as a potential catalyst material in the catalytic converter for IC engines. Here, both the fuel used and the catalytic material were produced from waste products, which is found to be very cost effective and also leading to sustainability.