A Software Program for Carrying Out Multi-Purpose Exhaust Composition Calculations

It is frequently useful to calculate the theoretical composition of the major components of vehicle exhaust. A software program has been written in Basic (or Quick Basic) which allows the convenient calculation of volume percents of CO, CO₂, O₂, H₂, and H₂O from fuel composition (H/C and O/C ratios), the water content (dew point) of the combustion air, and a chosen stoichiometry (air/fuel ratio). The program considers the Water Gas Shift reaction and the production of hydrogen under fuel rich conditions. The program is valid for both standard gasolines and oxygenated blends. Vehicle emissions data, collected to compare values calculated by the program with actual experimentally determined values from vehicle exhaust, show good agreement for measurements made at a series of air/fuel ratios ranging from lambda of 0.85-1.2.