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Particulate matter is one of the major pollutant responsible for deteriorating air quality, particularly in urban centers. Information on contributing sources with the share from different sources is a first and one of the important steps in controlling pollution. Diverse sources, anthropogenic as well as natural, like industries, transport, domestic burning, construction, wind-blown dust, road dust contribute to particulate matter pollution. Receptor modeling is a scientific method which is utilized for assessment of the contribution of various sources based on chemical characteristics of particulate matter sources and ambient air particulate matter. Representative data of fractions of various chemical species in the particulate matter from the different sources i.e. source fingerprint is an essential input for the receptor modeling approach.

Two carburetted passenger cars of different makes, converted for CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) operation (in dual mode) and optimised by ARAI (The Automotive Research Association of India, Pune, India), were tested for vehicular performance. The respective engines were also mapped for performance, energy consumption and emission. The power loss in CNG mode was 7% & 15% and torque reduction was 21% & 15% in respective engines. There is considerable improvement in thermal efficiency and reduction of emission in the entire operating range. The vehicle performance on Chassis Dynamometer shows similar results. The second engine was also tested with a ceramic catalytic converter which gave 93% reduction in CO and 50% reduction in HC in major portion of operating range. 1100 CC car was also tested on the test track. Optimisation work included installation of ARAI mixer design.

Alternative fuels for both spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI) engines have become very important owing to increased environmental protection concern, the need to reduce dependency on petroleum and even socioeconomic aspects. An appropriate sustainable fuel alternative has turn out to be a main concern and bio-diesel is one of the sustainable fuels. The path of interest in biodiesel has highlighted its advantages which include decrease in hydrocarbon and particulate matter. Meanwhile its shortcoming includes higher emission of oxides of nitrogen. This work is an attempt to develop a mathematical relationship to predict thermal NOx in CI engine fuelled with neat biodiesel. Attention was focused on using in-cylinder pressure based variables to predict NOx. In cylinder pressure measurement is a valuable tool for the analysis of CI engine combustion, which is used for finding the heat release rate, ignition delay, etc.

Biodiesel is an alternate fuel for diesel consisting of the alkyl monoester of fatty acids derived from vegetable oils. The most usual method to transform oil into biodiesel is transesterification which can be carried out using different catalyst. Jatropha is second generation oil which is non edible and can be use for producing biodiesel. The first part is to expel oil from jatropha seeds. There are different types of expelling methods such as mechanical extraction, solvent extraction and enzymatic extraction. The study was conducted with hand driven mechanical expeller which is most conventional way of extracting oil from seeds with mechanical efficiency of 60-80% for single pass. The study includes various combinations of parameters like seed treatment, sun drying, pre-heating, soaking at different temperatures and different de-hulling compositions.

Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) emission norms are already introduced in India from 1st April 2020. The implementation of BS VI emission standards essentially brings Indian motor vehicle regulations on par with most stringent International standards. The BS VI regulation also mandated Real Driving Emission (RDE) measurement with objective to limit regulated pollutants esp. NOX & PN during real use of vehicle. For M1 passenger vehicles Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions measured in Lab is also regulated under CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) however, CO2 emission during Real on Road Driving is not regulated. So, this study was carried out to compare CO2 on real road traffic conditions with standard lab conditions. This study was done on a set of BS VI compliant vehicles with diverse characteristic such as engine capacity, fuel type.

Utilization of higher ethanol blends, 20% ethanol in gasoline (E20), as an alternate fuel can provide apparent benefits like higher octane number leading to improved anti-knocking properties, higher oxygen content resulting in complete combustion. Apart from technical benefits, use of ethanol blends offer certain widespread socioeconomic benefits including option of renewable source of energy, value addition to agriculture feedstock resulting in increase in farm income, creation of more jobs in rural sector and creating job at local levels. Use of higher blends of ethanol can reduce dependence on foreign crude leading to substantial savings in cost of petroleum import. The impact of higher Gasoline-Ethanol blend (E20), on the fuel system components of gasoline vehicles must be known for assessment of whether the fuel system will be able to perform as intended for the complete design life of the system.

In India, B7 (a biodiesel mix of 7% by volume in diesel) has been approved for use in diesel engines. Due to the depletion of fossil fuel supplies and tight pollution requirements, alternative diesel fuel has become critical. However, given the properties of diesel, no direct renewable alternative fuel can totally replace diesel. As a result, one of the solutions may be to replace part of the diesel with ethanol. In this inquisition, the impact of various diesel-ethanol blends, counting ED7.7, ED10, ED15 and ED20, were examined on two in-use multi-cylinder engines complying to different emission norms. The two engines under consideration complies with CPCB-I and CPCB-II, which is an Indian legal requirement for stationary Genset engines. For both engines, a 5-mode steady-state test cycle was considered. For each mode, the engine’s performance characteristics, including power, torque, and BSFC, were tested and described.

Methanol fuel has attracted global attention from engine researchers since the crude oil crisis and the rise in crude oil prices in the recent years. As it is one of the possible alcoholic fuels after ethanol in an automotive application that can reduce dependence on crude oil. India has also initiated research studies on methanol since the 1980s. NITI Aayog is encouraging the use of methanol as an automotive fuel for transport sector. This desktop study includes the potentiality of methanol as an automotive fuel and the methanol roadmap for India as a biofuel in the conventional gasoline application. It has been seen that Methanol has the potential to be used as a fuel in automobiles to replace gasoline or crude oil-based fuels in terms of engine performance. According to a study, India’s methanol promotion measures will encourage more enterprises to invest in the research and construction of methanol producing plants and development of methanol-fueled engines.

Bharat Stage VI emission norms were implemented in India in two stages: Stage I from April 1, 2020, and Stage II from April 1, 2023. For M & N category vehicles, the RDE test along with other applicable certification tests is mandatory for obtaining a BSVI compliance certificate during stages I and II. The RDE test is conducted on roads under real driving conditions, unlike the Type-I test, which uses a predefined cycle on the chassis dynamometer, during which the ambient temperature and other environmental conditions are controlled in a narrow range. During BSVI Stage I for the RDE test, there was no limit for any pollutant. Therefore, it is considered as the RDE monitoring stage, and from BS-VI Stage II, limits are enforced on a few pollutants (NOX and PN) as notified in notification GSR 226(E) dated March 27, 2023. Therefore, it is considered the RDE compliance stage.

Due to the transformation of the automotive industry from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles, new challenges have emerged concerning Electromagnetic Compatibility. Though the Radiated Emission limits in global regulation are the same for both types of powertrains of vehicles, however, due to the phenomena of conversion of high voltage to low voltage, rapid charging/discharging, and different components involved in electric powertrain, the Radiated Emission from electric vehicles give a strikingly different trend which is challenging to combat. When compared with the conventional Spark Ignition vehicle, many other electronic components of the electric vehicle stay in the mode of Power ON while in the “Ignition ON” steady state. This resulted in us observing a significant shift in the amplitude and frequency throughout the frequency band of Radiated Emission measurement.

Researchers are under pressure to investigate and discover ways to improve the efficacy and reduce emissions from ICE due to the depletion of energy resources and the growing concern over global warming. Hydrogen is viewed as a promising fuel and has been investigated as a potential fuel in combustion because to several desirable qualities like carbon-less content and strong flammability limitations. When equated to other alternative fuels like LPG, CNG, LNG, etc., hydrogen has inimitable qualities because it lacks carbon, making it one of the promising alternatives fuels. In order to achieve zero CO2 emissions for traffic applications in the near future, hydrogen being an automotive fuel in ICE is a solution. The ICE powered by hydrogen is prepared for that. The actual drawbacks of using hydrogen in ICE generally are manufacturing, storage, and development of the requisite infrastructure. Hydrogen can be produced in its many forms.