Pulsed corona discharge technology for reducing NO_x emission from IC engines

A pulsed-corona reactor for reducing NO_x emission from internal-combustion engines was designed, constructed, and tested. A 1297-cc engine from Mitsubishi was installed on a test bench and the reactor was mounted at the exhaust system. A part of the exhaust flow (88 L/min of 1100 L/min) was angled into the reactor. The corona power had a significant effect on the cleanness of the exhaust gas. A corona power exceeding 120 Mw is required to achieve 90% cleanness. However, the conversion efficiency, defined as the mass of NO removed per energy input (g/kw-hr), decreased with the corona power. Process efficiency values were 10-20 g/kw-hr. Original is an abstract.