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Engine-out particle size distributions and soot mass emissions were measured from a gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine fueled by seven different gasoline formulations. Additionally, particle size distributions were simultaneously measured downstream of a catalyzed gasoline particulate filter (GPF) to determine the size resolved filtration efficiency. Stoichiometric, lean homogeneous, and lean stratified combustion modes were studied at four steady-state engine conditions. The particulate matter (PM) Index was calculated for each fuel as a function of the double bond equivalent and vapor pressure of the fuel components. There was generally poor correlation between particle number (PN)/PM mass emissions and the PM Index for steady state stoichiometric conditions with clean injectors, which emitted low particle concentrations.

In this work, engine-out particle mass (PM) and particle number (PN) emissions were experimentally examined from a gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine operating in two lean combustion modes and one stoichiometric mode with a fuel of known properties. Ten steady state operating points, two constant speed load steps, and an engine cold start were examined. Results showed that solid particles emitted from the engine under steady state stoichiometric conditions had a uniquely broad size distribution that was relatively flat between the diameters of 10 and 100 nm. In most operating conditions, lean homogenous modes can achieve lower particle emissions than stoichiometric modes while improving engine thermal efficiency. Alternatively, lean stratified operating modes resulted in significantly higher PN and PM emissions than both lean homogeneous and stoichiometric modes with increased efficiency only at low engine load.

To ensure reliable starting under cold weather conditions (< 0 oC ambient), gasoline engines use fuel enrichment, leading to higher soot formation and greater tailpipe particle number (PN) emissions. In gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, PN emissions are higher due to liquid fuel impingement on cold surfaces of the combustion chamber and piston. This study characterizes solid (mostly elemental carbon) and semi-volatile (organic) particle number, mass, and size distributions during cold-cold engine start-up from light duty vehicles. Particle emissions were sampled from vehicles upon engine start-up after an overnight soak, with an average ambient temperature of -8 ± 7 oC. The average PN emitted during 180 seconds by GDI and PFI vehicles were 3.09E+13 and 2.12E+13 particles respectively.

Diesel low temperature combustion (LTC) is an operational strategy that effectively limits soot and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions in-cylinder. Unfortunately, LTC results in increased hydrocarbon emissions as compared to conventional diesel combustion (CDC). Previous work has shown that exhaust conditions resulting from LTC inhibit oxidation of HC within a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC). Further, these elevated HC emissions result in engine-out particulate matter (PM) that primarily consists of semi-volatile organic material. The current work shows that a DOC incompletely oxidizes this PM forming material. These results investigated the effectiveness of both a DOC and a diesel particulate filter (DPF) in reducing particle emissions for LTC. In this work, engine-out, DOC-out, and DPF-out exhaust were sampled using a micro-dilution system. Particle distributions were determined with a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and engine exhaust particle sizer (EEPS).

In recent years, there has been growing interest in alternative cycles to the standard 4-stroke Otto engine for improving efficiency and lowering emissions of spark-ignition engines. One proposed concept is the 5-stroke engine which uses two types of cylinders, a combustion cylinder and an expansion cylinder with a transfer port between them. Excess pressure in the combustion cylinder can be further expanded by using a second expansion cylinder to harness additional work. The expansion cylinder runs on a two-stroke cycle, allowing the use of two combustion cylinders to one expansion cylinder in a three cylinder configuration to increase efficiency. Previous work has investigated the performance of prototype 5-stroke engines compared to 1-D modeling results; none have conducted a thorough study on the interactions of various design parameters.

Diesel low temperature combustion (LTC) is an operational strategy that is effective at reducing soot and oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) emissions at low engine loads in-cylinder. A downside to LTC in diesel engines is increased hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. This study shows that semi-volatile species from LTC form the bulk of particulate matter (PM) upon dilution in the atmosphere. The nature of gas-to-particle conversion from high HC operating modes like LTC has not been well characterized. In this work, we explore engine-out PM and HC emissions from LTC and conventional diffusion combustion (CC) operation for two different engine load and speed modes using a modern light-duty diesel engine. An experimental method to investigate PM volatility was implemented. Raw exhaust was diluted under two dilution conditions. A tandem differential mobility analyzer (TDMA) was used to identify differences in volatility between particle sizes.

Diesel particulate filter (DPF) technology has proven performance and reliability. However, the addition of a DPF adds significant cost and packaging constraints leading some manufacturers to design engines that reduce particulate matter in-cylinder. Such engines utilize high fuel injection pressure, moderate exhaust gas recirculation and modified injection timing to mitigate soot formation. This study examines such an engine designed to meet US EPA Interim Tier 4 standards for off-highway applications without a DPF. The engine was operated at four steady state modes and aerosol measurements were made using a two-stage, ejector dilution system with a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) equipped with a catalytic stripper (CS) to differentiate semi-volatile versus solid components in the exhaust. Gaseous emissions were measured using an FTIR analyzer and particulate matter mass emissions were estimated using SMPS data and an assumed particle density function.

Diesel fuel injection systems are operating at increasingly higher pressure (up to 250 MPa) with smaller clearances, making them more sensitive to diesel fuel contaminants. Most liquid particle counters have difficulty detecting particles <4 μm in diameter and are unable to distinguish between solid and semi-solid materials. The low conductivity of diesel fuel limits the use of the Coulter counter. This raises the need for a new method to characterize small (<4 μm) fuel contaminants. We propose and evaluate an aerosolization method for characterizing solid particulate matter in diesel fuel that can detect particles as small as 0.5 μm. The particle sizing and concentration performance of the method were calibrated and validated by the use of seed particles added to filtered diesel fuel. A size dependent correction method was developed to account for the preferential atomization and subsequent aerosol conditioning processes to obtain the liquid-borne particle concentration.

The European Emissions Stage 5b standard for diesel passenger cars regulates particulate matter to 0.0045 g/km and non-volatile part/km greater than 23 nm size to 6.0x10₁₁ as determined by the PMP procedure that uses a heated evaporation tube to remove semi-volatile material. Measurement artifacts associated with the evaporation tube technique prevents reliable extension of the method to a lower size range. Catalytic stripper (CS) technology removes possible sources of these artifacts by effectively removing all hydrocarbons and sulfuric acid in the gas phase in order to avoid any chemical reactions or re-nucleation that may cause measurement complications. The performance of a miniature CS was evaluated and experimental results showed solid particle penetration was 50% at 10.5 nm. The sulfate storage capacity integrated into the CS enabled it to chemically remove sulfuric acid vapor rather than rely on dilution to prevent nucleation.

Four-way, integrated, diesel emission control systems that combine selective catalytic reduction for NOx control with a continuously regenerating trap to remove diesel particulate matter were evaluated under real-world, on-road conditions. Tests were conducted using a semi-tractor with an emissions year 2000, 6-cylinder, 12 L, Volvo engine rated at 287 kW at 1800 rpm and 1964 N-m. The emission control system was certified for retrofit application on-highway trucks, model years 1994 through 2002, with 4-stroke, 186-373 kW (250-500 hp) heavy-duty diesel engines without exhaust gas recirculation. The evaluations were unique because the mobile laboratory platform enabled evaluation under real-world exhaust plume dilution conditions as opposed to laboratory dilution conditions. Real-time plume measurements for NOx, particle number concentration and size distribution were made and emission control performance was evaluated on-road.

This paper reports on the first phase of a project that explores the trends and dependencies of the input power to the major mechanically-driven accessories including hydraulic pumps, air compressor, air conditioning (AC) compressor, and alternator on a modern parallel hybrid city bus. In this first phase, the impact of accessory electrification is estimated by considering the near-elimination of accessory overdrive and parasitic loading. In addition to reducing accessory fuel consumption accessory electrification can also serve as a bridge to the eventual use of a diesel or fuel cell auxiliary power unit to generate electricity for accessories on transit buses. Data collection and processing methods of this study are described, the shortcomings of mechanically-driven accessories are discussed, and an estimation of savings for accessory electrification is performed.

The objective of this work is to improve the understanding of variables like dilution and sampling conditions that contribute to particle-based emission measurements by assessing and comparing the nucleation tendency of diesel aerosols when diluted with a porous wall dilutor or an air ejector in a laboratory setting. An air-ejector dilutor and typical dilution conditions were used to establish the baseline sensitivity to dilution conditions for the given engine operating condition. A porous tube dilutor was designed and special attention was given to integrating the dilutor with the exhaust pipe and residence time chamber. Results from this system were compared with the ejector dilutor. Exhaust aerosols were generated by a Deere 4045 diesel engine running at low speed (1400 rpm) and low load (50 Nm, ~10% of rated). Primary dilution parameters that were varied included dilution air temperature (25 and 47°C) and dilution ratio (5, 14, and 55).

Hydrogen was used to operate a single cylinder engine in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) mode. The engine was a modified 435 cm3 single cylinder air cooled Yanmar L100V direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine. The original diesel fuel injection system was removed and a hydrogen port fuel injection (PFI) system was added, along with a 1 kW intake air heater. The piston was modified from the original re-entrant bowl piston to a dish shaped piston, while maintaining the original 21.2:1 compression ratio. The engine speed was maintained at a constant 1800 RPM. Three hydrogen fueling conditions of 25, 30, and 35 slpm were investigated, which corresponded to an excess air ratio (λ) of roughly 4.38, 3.64, and 3.16, respectively The fuel conversion efficiency for the conditions tested ranged from 23% - 27%.

This study investigates the combustion and emissions of a compression ignition (CI) engine operating with mixtures of hydrogen (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) injected with the intake air. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide were chosen as the gaseous fuels, because they represent the main fuel component of synthesis gas, which can be produced by a variety of methods and feed stocks. However, due to varying feed stock and production mechanisms, syngas composition can vary significantly. It is currently unknown how a varying H₂/CO (syngas) ratio affects the cycle efficiency and gaseous emissions. The experiments were performed on an air-cooled, naturally aspirated, direct injection diesel engine. The engine was operated at 1800 RPM with a compression ratio of 21.2:1. Two load conditions were tested; 2 bar and 4 bar net indicated mean effective pressure (IMEPⁿ). For all test conditions the added syngas demonstrated lower cycle efficiency than the diesel fuel baseline.

Diesel engine ash emissions are composed of the non-combustible portions of diesel particulate matter derived mainly from lube oil, and over time can degrade diesel particulate filter performance. This paper presents results from a high temperature oxidation method (HTOM) used to estimate ash emissions, and engine oil consumption in real-time. Atomized lubrication oil and diesel engine exhaust were used to evaluate the HTOM performance. Atomized fresh and used lube oil experiments showed that the HTOM reached stable particle size distributions and concentrations at temperatures above 700°C. The HTOM produced very similar number and volume weighted particle size distributions for both types of lube oils. The particle number size distribution was unimodal, with a geometric mean diameter of about 23 nm. The volume size distribution had a geometric volume mean diameter of about 65 nm.

The 2007 Diesel particulate matter (DPM) standard of 0.01 g/bhp-hr represents a 90% reduction of the previous standard and corresponds to roughly 100 micrograms (μg) gained on the filter sample used to determine compliance. The factors that influence the accuracy and precision by which this filter can be weighed are analyzed and quantified. The total uncertainty, representing best and typical cases, is between 1 and 5 μg. These uncertainties are used to compute the total uncertainty of the brake specific emission calculation. This uncertainty also depends on flowrate uncertainty, face velocity, and secondary dilution ratio. For a typical case, the total fractional uncertainty is in the range of ∼5 – 70% at 10% of the standard and ∼1 – 10% at 90% of the standard.

EPA's 2007 Diesel particulate matter (DPM) standard requires a large reduction in total mass emissions. In practice, this amounts to a fractional reduction in elemental carbon emissions. The reduction is balanced by a fractional increase in the semi-volatile component, which is difficult to sample and quantify accurately at low concentrations using filter-based methods. In this work, we show how five imprecisely defined filter-sampling parameters influence the mass collected on a filter. These parameters are: dilution air quality, dilution conditions (dilution ratio and dilution air temperature), particle size classification, filter media and artifacts, and face velocity. Each factor has the potential to change the mass collected by a minimum of 5% of the standard, suggesting there is room for improvement.

Combustion aerosols consist mainly of elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC). Since EC strongly absorbs light and thus affects atmospheric visibility and radiation balance, there is great interest in its measurement. To this end, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a standard method to determine the mass of EC and OC on filter samples. Another common method of measuring carbon in aerosols is the aethalometer, which uses light extinction to measure “black carbon” or BC, which is considered to approximate EC. A third method sometimes used for estimating carbon in submicron combustion aerosols, is to measure particle size distributions using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and calculate mass using the assumptions that the particles are spherical, carbonaceous and of known density.

Many engine exhaust emissions measurements require exhaust dilution. With low-emission engines, there is the possibility for contaminants in the dilution air to contribute artifacts to the emissions measurement. The objectives of this work are to discuss common methods used to clean the dilution air, to present the detailed analysis of a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system and to compare the performance of the PSA with 2 other systems commonly used to provide dilution air for engine exhaust nanoparticle measurements. The results of the comparison are discussed in context with some emissions measurements that require exhaust dilution.

Electrical mobility has a long history as a tool for measuring the particle size of engine exhaust emissions. This paper gives a review of these methods as well as more current methods for making exhaust particle measurements. Each of the methods discussed has a limitation especially for making fast (sub-second) measurements. A new instrument is discussed that has been developed by TSI based on a technique developed over the last two decades by the University of Tartu - Estonia. A description of the instrument, the Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer™ (EEPS™), is given as well as engine dynamometer data showing a comparison between the current standards for engine exhaust measurements, the Scanning Mobility Particle Sizing (SMPS™) system and the Condensation Particle Counter (CPC). The EEPS compares favorably with the SMPS and CPC while providing sub-second response.