Back to Basics: Learning the Emissions System

The last few decades have seen a tremendous leap in green living sensibilities. Not only are people investing in renewable energy sources and beginning to be more environmentally minded, but corporations are also beginning to understand the impact that they have on nature. In the automotive industry, significant leaps have been made to innovate on electric and hybrid vehicles with a more eco-friendly design.

This isn’t necessarily a new trend, however. While the technology is finally catching up to the ambition of car manufacturers to create products that are less dependant on fossil fuel consumption, the issue of clean emissions has been a focus for manufacturers and policymakers for decades. And so, in addition to creating new, cleaner modes of transportation, efforts have been taken to create emission systems that leave less of a carbon footprint on the planet than their predecessors.

The Emissions System

At its core, the emissions system of a vehicle is the collection of parts that have ownership over the displacement of fuel vapors created by the engine. When gas gets siphoned from the gas tank by the fuel pump, filtered, and sent to the fuel injectors, it is introduced into the air chamber of an internal combustion engine as a mist, mixed with air from the injectors. This mixture is then set alight by a spark plug (in the case of gasoline) or through compression (in the case of diesel), and an explosion occurs. This blast generates power to turn the crankshaft which in turn passes the energy along to the tires, which spin and move the car.

But what about the excess fumes created by the explosion? They must be let out of the combustion engine before the next injection of gas and air is let in to be ignited. It is the journey of these fumes, from the inside of the engine all the way out of the tailpipe into the open air, that is controlled by the emissions system.

The Components

The emissions system is comprised of a number of parts that move the noxious fumes out of the engine, filter them, and then push them back out into the world. These parts include:

• Exhaust Manifold: This is the first stop for the exhaust on its way out of the car. Here, the fumes are combines with carbon monoxide and other elements to raise the temperature of the exhaust and keep the combustion going. This burns away more of the harmful gases without expending any extra energy. 
• Exhaust Down Pipe: Once that second burn has occurred, this initial section of the exhaust pipe moves the “cleaner” exhaust into the catalytic converter.
• Catalytic Converter: The catalytic converter is an incredible device meant to change the exhaust from the manifold into another element: water vapor and carbon dioxide. This is done when the exhaust travels through a sort of honeycomb of metals coated in special solutions that increase the temperature of the fumes until they go through this second change.
• Resonator: Once exiting the converter, the vapors are ready to be expelled from the car. However, with all the changes the exhaust has undergone, the noise generated by the engine and everything else has become quite loud, and the exhaust carries that sound through the emissions system. The resonator is designed to “take the edge off” by reducing the decibels of the exhaust by changing the sound of the engine so it can be almost fully muted by the muffler. 
• Muffler: After the resonator has modulated the sound of the engine and made it easier to reduce in volume, the muffler seals the deal by significantly reducing the sound of the noise in general. After it has been quieted, the exhaust is ready to leave the car.
• Tailpipe: The final stage of the journey, the tailpipe facilitates the exit of the vapors from the car.

As our name suggests, the auto repair experts at Master Muffler in Riverton are well-versed in the goings-on of the emissions system. No matter where the trouble is along the path, if there is something that needs fixing, we can perform any car repair tasks as necessary.