`Poor combustion creates higher air pollution’

`Poor combustion creates higher air pollution’
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Former Transport deputy commissioner R S Raghunath has said that the present design of internal combustion engines provided limited combustion efficiency, which led to vehicular emissions with higher pollutant load.

Raghunath was speaking on ‘Prevention of air pollution caused by automobiles,’ organised jointly by Transport department and Indian Institute of Science.

He said that the combustion chambers of automobiles were not designed for ideal performance and therefore are unable to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide.

“The ideal combustible engine should release water and carbon dioxide after combustion,” he said.

Raghunath said that improper traffic patterns cause more air pollution. Even though the new vehicles are designed to operate with high speed, they are not able to operate due to heavy traffic.

Statutory vehicles, especially at the signals are more dangerous than moving vehicles.

“Thousand moving vehicles will contribute only one per cent of the carbon monoxide, while 100 vehicles in accelaratory mode will emit 10 per cent of the carbon monoxide,” he added.

He further said that every day, 1000 new vehicles are registered in Karnataka, of which 50 per cent are done in Bangalore alone.

Vehicles on the road contribute 64 per cent of the total carbon monoxide and 45 per cent the hydrocarbon.

Principal Research Scientist at IIS Chemistry department J R Mudakavi said that there were more than 300 organic chemicals in the atmosphere, which settle down in the lungs gradually.

“Eighty per cent of the pollutants are carcinogenic,” he added.

IISc chief security and fire officer M R Chandrashekar and RTO (North) K T Halaswamy were present.