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Time resolved exhaust port sampling results show that the gas mixture in the port at exhaust valve closing contains high concentrations of hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons are mixed with hot in-cylinder gases during blowdown and can react either via gas phase kinetics in the exhaust port/runner system or subsequently on the exhaust catalyst before they are emitted. Studies were conducted on a single cylinder, four stroke engine in our laboratory to determine the interaction between the hot blowdown gases and the hydrocarbons which remain in the exhaust port. A preselected concentration and volume of hydrocarbon tracers (propane, propene, n-butane, and 1-butene) in either oxygen/nitrogen mixtures or pure nitrogen were injected into the exhaust port just behind the exhaust valve to control the initial conditions for any potential oxidation in the port.

Recently, studies were conducted on a single cylinder, four stroke engine to investigate the effect of temperature and local mixedness on exhaust port hydrocarbon oxidation. To examine the effect of temperature, hydrocarbon tracers (propane, propene, 1-butene, n-butane, and n-pentane) were individually injected into the exhaust port just behind the exhaust valve for operating conditions that provided different exhaust port temperatures. For the local mixedness experiments, tracer mixtures (propane + n-butane, 1-butene + n-butane, propene + n-butane) were injected into the exhaust port just behind either a normal exhaust valve or a shrouded exhaust valve. The concentration of tracers and their reaction products were measured using gas chromatography of samples withdrawn from the exhaust stream. The tracer consumption behavior with changing port temperature confirmed that there is a minimum port temperature for hydrocarbon oxidation.