Two-stroke Vehicles Research Articles

Conversion of Two-Stroke Vehicle to an Electric Vehicle

Amid the global pandemic of covid-19, fuel prices have soared a record high, crossing the Rs. 100 landmark for petrol and diesel. This leads to an increase in prices across all products, which cuts in deeper into the already thin bottom lines of ordinary citizens. Public outcry aside, the rise in fuel prices indicates an accelerating trend, which emphasizes the need to find alternative sources of fuel for transport; the ever growing sector. In recent years, reports of possible banning two-stroke engines, coupled with the emergence of a new emission standard in India, have re-ignited questions about how two-stroke vehicles, can be powered from alternative sources of energy. This project intends to address the above question, by assessing the feasibility of a different alternative, by designing an electric drivetrain for a twowheeler, while aiming to be practical and economical for the ordinary man riding it. This project intends to be a cost-feasibility study, whose aim, to realize a full EV conversion of a twowheeler, less than 50% of current market price of base level, original EV’s, thereby proving to be a feasible alternative to people who cannot afford the alternative; and also solving the logistical and environmental problems arising from a large number of abandoned or suboptimal use of such vehicles, when the shift happens.

Estimating emissions from the Indian transport sector with on-road fleet composition and traffic volume

Urbanization and rising household incomes in India have led to growing transport demand, particularly during 1990–2010. Emissions from transportation have been implicated in air quality and climate effects. In this work, emissions of particulate matter (PM2.5 or mass concentration of particles smaller than 2.5 um diameter), black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), were estimated from the transport sector in India, using detailed technology divisions and regionally measured emission factors. Modes of transport addressed in this work include road transport, railways, shipping and aviation, but exclude off-road equipment like diesel machinery and tractors. For road transport, a vehicle fleet model was used, with parameters derived from vehicle sales, registration data, and surveyed age-profile. The fraction of extremely high emitting vehicles, or superemitters, which is highly uncertain, was assumed as 20%. Annual vehicle utilization estimates were based on regional surveys and user population. For railways, shipping and aviation, a top-down approach was applied, using nationally reported fuel consumption. Fuel use and emissions from on-road vehicles were disaggregated at the state level, with separate estimates for 30 cities in India. The on-road fleet was dominated by two-wheelers, followed by four-and three-wheelers, with new vehicles comprising the majority of the fleet for each vehicle type. A total of 276 (−156, 270) Gg/y PM2.5, 144 (−99, 207) Gg/y BC, and 95 (−64, 130) Gg/y OC emissions were estimated, with over 97% contribution from on-road transport. Largest emitters were identified as heavy duty diesel vehicles for PM2.5 and BC, but two-stroke vehicles and superemitters for OC. Old vehicles (pre-2005) contributed significantly more (∼70%) emissions, while their share in the vehicle fleet was smaller (∼45%). Emission estimates were sensitive to assumed superemitter fraction. Improvement of emission estimates requires on-road emission factor measurements for all vehicle types and a better understanding of vehicle utilization and superemitter fraction.

Blood lead levels of secondary school students in Dhaka, Bangladesh after the elimination of leaded gasoline and phase-out of two-stroke vehicles: study on one hundred children

Background: Lead (Pb) is a proven environmental toxicant throughout the world. Elevated blood lead level (BLL) adversely affects the neuro-cognitive and behavioral development of children. Considering the worst source of lead pollution, the government of Bangladesh banned leaded petrol and phased out two-stroked vehicles from Dhaka citya€”the capital of Bangladesha€”in late 1999. In 2000, on the verge of introducing unleaded gasoline, a baseline survey showed high mean value of BLLs (15 µg/dL) in school children of Dhakaa€”much higher than the CDC's permissible level of 10 µgm/dL. Methods: This cross sectional, follow-up study was conducted to see the current status of BLLs in school children of Dhaka city. Total 100 students from two schools, 50 girls and 50 boys from grade six through ten, were randomly selected and their finger-pricked bloods were analyzed for Pb levels. Results: The mean (±SD) BLLs was 15.31±5.81 µgm/dL; and the majority (84%) of the students tested had BLLs higher than 10µg/dL. The BLLs was found significantly higher among the students who used to play outside house premises in a dusty environment (p=0.03) and among the frequent users of a traditional eye cosmetics a€A“surmaa€ (p= 0.032). No significant associations were noted between BLLs and the gender of the study subjects, their housing status, and the distance of the houses from the school. Conclusion: The mean BLL is still alarmingly high in the studied school children that have not declined significantly despite taking several visibly effective measures. Recommendation: The possible causes and source(s) of such persistently higher BLLs in children need priority exploration, since this important environmental health issue is of crucial importance so far the health and wellbeing of the future generations of the country are concern.

Direct Fuel Injection of LPG in Small Two-Stroke Engines

The commonly used carburetted two-stroke engines in developing countries have high exhaust emission and poor fuel efficiency. To meet more rigid emissions requirements, two-stroke vehicles are typically phase out in favour of four-stroke engines. The problems of ubiquitous legacy two-stroke vehicles remain unsolved by these measures and they are likely to be a major source of transport for many years to come. A number of technologies are available for solving the problems associated with two-stroke engines such as catalytic after-treatment and direct fuel injection (DI). However, these solutions are relatively high cost and have shown only slow market acceptance for applications in developing countries. Research in recent years has demonstrated that direct fuel injection is a well developed and readily deployable solution to existing two-stroke engines. Gaseous fuels such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) are considered a promising energy source and in many countries provide fuel cost savings. LPG coupled with DI two-stroke technologies, is expected to be clean and cost effective retrofit solution for two-stroke engines. In this research project, direct injection (DI) of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is introduced and tested on a typical two-stroke engine. Results of in cylinder combustion pressure translated to fuel mass fraction burned, engine performance and exhaust emissions are taken and compared for various injection timings from premixed (early injection) to fully direct injection mode (late injection). Results show that DI of LPG effectively reduces exhaust hydrocarbon and can substantially improve the fuel economy of two-stroke engines.

Source Apportionment of the Atmospheric Aerosol in Lahore, Pakistan

Samples of airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) were collected at a site in Lahore, Pakistan from November 2005 to January 2006. A total of 129 samples were collected using an Andersen Reference Ambient Air Sampler 2.5-400 sampler and analyzed for major ions, trace metals, and organic and elemental carbon concentrations. The data set was then analyzed by positive matrix factorization (PMF) to identify the possible sources of the atmospheric PM collected in this urban area. Six factors reproduced the PM2.5 sample compositions with meaningful physical interpretation of the resolved factors. The sources included secondary PM, diesel emissions, biomass burning, coal combustion, two-stroke vehicle exhaust, and industrial sources. Diesel and two-stroke vehicles contributed about 36%, biomass burning about 15%, and coal combustion sources around 13% of the PM2.5 mass. Nearly two thirds of the PM2.5 mass is carbonaceous material. Secondary particles contributed about 30% of PM2.5 mass. The conditional probability function (CPF) was then used to help identify likely locations of the sources present in this area. CPF analysis point to the east and northeast, which are directions of urban and industrial areas located across the border near Amritsar, India as the most probable source for high PM2.5 concentration from diesel and two-stroke vehicles exhaust in Lahore. Analysis of those days within three different ranges of PM2.5 concentration shows that most of the measured high PM2.5 mass concentrations were driven by diesel and two-stroke vehicle emissions including the associated primary sulfate. The use of the potential source contribution function (PSCF) to find the source locations of regionally transported particles is inapplicable in situations when high PM2.5 concentrations are dominated by local sources and local meteorology.

Source apportionment of PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Seoul, Korea

Abstract. PM2.5 samples were collected at a centrally located urban monitoring site in Seoul, Korea, every third day from March 2003 to December 2006 and analyzed for their chemical constituents. Sources were identified using positive matrix factorization (PMF). A total of 393 samples were obtained during the sampling period, and 20 chemical species were measured. Nine PM2.5 source categories were identified providing physically realistic profiles and interesting insights into the source contributions to the ambient mass concentrations. The major contributors of PM2.5 were secondary nitrate (20.9%), secondary sulfate (20.5%), gasoline-fueled vehicles (17.2%), and biomass burning (12.1%), with lesser contributions from diesel emissions (8.1%), soil (7.4%), industry (6.7%), road salt and two-stroke vehicles (5.1%), and aged sea salt (2.2%). PM2.5 levels in Seoul were influenced by both local urban activities and regional-scale transport. Conditional probability function (CPF) results identified possible source directions of local sources such as motor vehicles (gasoline and diesel), industry, and road salt. Potential source contribution function (PSCF) results showed that possible source areas contributing to the elevated secondary particle concentrations (sulfate and nitrate) in Seoul to be the major industrial areas in China.

Source Identification of Chittagong Aerosol by Receptor Modeling

Samples of fine and coarse airborne particulate matter (PM) were collected between February and July 2007 at the Continuous Air Monitoring Station (CAMS) in Chittagong, the second largest city in Bangladesh. Samples were collected using a dichotomous sampler in two fractions of <2.5 μm (fine) and 2.5 to 10 μm (coarse). Samples were analyzed for elemental concentrations by proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE), hydrogen by proton elastic scattering analysis (PESA), and black carbon by reflectometry. Elemental data sets together with black carbon were analyzed by positive matrix factorization to identify the possible sources of mass for the coarse and fine PM fractions. Best solutions were found to be six and seven factors for elemental compositions for coarse and fine fractions at the CAMS at Chittagong, respectively. Sources were identified as biomass burning/brick kiln, soil dust, road dust, Zn source (including two-stroke motorcycles), motor vehicle, CNG vehicle, and sea salt. The PMF results show that about 35.5% of PM2.5 mass at this site comes from biomass burning. The second largest contribution of fine PM comes from motor vehicle including CNG vehicles. The third one is a Zn source that includes emissions from two-stroke vehicles and galvanizing factories with vehicles, probably the larger contributor of the two source types. In case of coarse PM, about 40% of PM2.5–10 mass comes from soil dust including road dust.

Preliminary chemical characterization of particle-phase organic compounds in New Delhi, India

This work describes a pilot study for the investigation of the chemical composition of organic species present in PM 10 collected at a residential site in New Delhi during December 2001–March 2002, and in TSP emissions from in-use two-stroke vehicles. Both ambient and emissions samples were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), with an emphasis on quantification of non-volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and marker compounds in ambient PM 10 . Preliminary findings suggest that vehicular emissions and biomass and/or refuse burning are significant contributors to the organic fraction of PM 10 in the New Delhi atmosphere.

Fluorescence-based method designed for quantitative measurement of fuel film thickness during cold-start of engines

Urbanization and rising household incomes in India have led to growing transport demand, particularly during 1990–2010. Emissions from transportation have been implicated in air quality and climate effects. In this work, emissions of particulate matter (PM2.5 or mass concentration of particles smaller than 2.5 um diameter), black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), were estimated from the transport sector in India, using detailed technology divisions and regionally measured emission factors. Modes of transport addressed in this work include road transport, railways, shipping and aviation, but exclude off-road equipment like diesel machinery and tractors. For road transport, a vehicle fleet model was used, with parameters derived from vehicle sales, registration data, and surveyed age-profile. The fraction of extremely high emitting vehicles, or superemitters, which is highly uncertain, was assumed as 20%. Annual vehicle utilization estimates were based on regional surveys and user population. For railways, shipping and aviation, a top-down approach was applied, using nationally reported fuel consumption. Fuel use and emissions from on-road vehicles were disaggregated at the state level, with separate estimates for 30 cities in India. The on-road fleet was dominated by two-wheelers, followed by four-and three-wheelers, with new vehicles comprising the majority of the fleet for each vehicle type. A total of 276 (−156, 270) Gg/y PM2.5, 144 (−99, 207) Gg/y BC, and 95 (−64, 130) Gg/y OC emissions were estimated, with over 97% contribution from on-road transport. Largest emitters were identified as heavy duty diesel vehicles for PM2.5 and BC, but two-stroke vehicles and superemitters for OC. Old vehicles (pre-2005) contributed significantly more (∼70%) emissions, while their share in the vehicle fleet was smaller (∼45%). Emission estimates were sensitive to assumed superemitter fraction. Improvement of emission estimates requires on-road emission factor measurements for all vehicle types and a better understanding of vehicle utilization and superemitter fraction.