Abstract

Vehicular air pollution is one of the major contributors of air pollution of Dhaka city. This paper reviews the various technologies available for reducing pollution from petrol and diesel run vehicles and makes a comparative assessment of effectiveness of the different methods under the present situation of Dhaka metropolitan city. Control of the pollution created by road transports would require the combination of a pragmatic Emission Standard and its effective implementation. The Standard should be developed on the basis of vehicle data of Bangladesh, the related technical infrastructure at present and the socio-economic context of the country.

Among the emission pollutants Carbon monoxide (CO), Unburned Hydro-Carbon (HC) are mainly contributed by petrol engines and Particulate Matter (PM) and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) mainly comes from diesel engines. Manufacturers worldwide are increasingly being forced to improve the emissions from their engines. This may be achieved by using-pre-engine, in-engine and post-engine devices or generally a combination of these. Often there is correlation between the various devices and it is always suggested that the manufacturer specifies the entire set and retrofits often do not produce the same level of pollution control. Among the post-engine devices Catalytic Converter and Diesel Particulate Filters are potential candidates.