CO carbon monoxide

The main source of CO in cities is the internal combustion engine, where it is produced by
incomplete combustion. During a city rush hour, for example, concentrations of CO can reach 50
or even 100 ppm, which greatly exceeds the safe level. CO can be oxidised to CO 2 if there is
enough O2 available. At higher air-fuel ratios the level of CO emission goes down. The fuel
has undergone complete, or more nearly complete, combustion. CO can also be oxidised to
CO2 in a catalytic convertor. The highest CO emission takes place during engine startup when
the engine is fuel rich to compensate for poor fuel evaporation.

NOx oxides of nitrogen. While some nitrogen may be present in the fuel, most oxides of
nitrogen are produced when elemental nitrogen (N2) in the air is broken down and oxidised at
high temperatures (approximately 1000 K or greater) and pressures within the internal
combustion engine.

NOx includes nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), in SI engines the dominant
component of NOx is NO. NOx forms as a result of dissociation of molecular nitrogen and
oxygen.

Zeldovich mechanism

since the activation energy (E) of the first reaction is very high the reaction rate, is very
temperature dependent.
NO is only formed at high temperatures (>2000K) and the reaction rate is relatively
slow.

Since the cylinder temperature changes throughout the cycle the NO reaction rate also
changes.
Each fluid element burns to its AFT based on its initial temperature, elements that burn
first near the spark plug achieve a higher temperature.
Increased spark advance and intake manifold pressure both result in higher cylinder
temperatures and thus higher NO concentrations in the exhaust gas

Formation of hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbon emissions result from the presence of unburned fuel in the engine
exhaust.
About 9% of the fuel supplied to the engine is not burned during the normal combustion
phase of the expansion stroke.
Only 2% ends up in the exhaust the rest is consumed during the other three strokes.
As a consequence hydrocarbon emissions cause a decrease in the thermal efficiency,
as well as being an air pollutant.

There are six primary mechanisms believed to be responsible for hydrocarbon emissions:

Smog formation
Reactive pollutant hydrocarbons in the presence of NOx and under certain atmospheric
conditions can produce a brown haze known as photochemical smog. It is given this name
because it is formed by photochemical reactions (that is, reactions catalysed by light) between
NOx and hydrocarbons.
Any combustion process which does not fully consume hydrocarbons, allowing some to pass to
the atmosphere, should not possess sufficient energy to oxidise nitrogen. In the internal
combustion engine, however, there is a combination of extremely high temperatures and a
shortage of oxygen. The two essential ingredients for the formation of photochemical smog are
produced together.