Ecological effects of changes in Air-Fuel Ratio of a gasoline engine on exhaust harmful gases emissions

The present study examines the effect of the air-fuel mixture ratio on harmful emissions from a gasoline engine, analyzed from an ecological perspective. The experiments were carried out with a BMW 318 gasoline engine equipped with a MegaSquirt 3 electronic control unit and TunerStudio MS software, as well as a Kane AUTOplus gas analyzer. The concentrations of three gaseous pollutants - carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and unburned hydrocarbons (HC), were measured at different engine speeds and different air-fuel ratios. The obtained data were used to compile regression equations that describe the relationship between the air-fuel mixture ratio and the harmful emissions levels. The results show significant changes in gaseous pollutants' emissions depending on engine settings, which highlights the importance of optimizing these parameters to reduce both the environmental pollution and greenhouse gases levels into the atmosphere.