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Particulate matter in the air has become the focus of increased attention due to the concern of potential health effects. Among other sources, automotive vehicles are seen as a major contributor of fine particles. At present there is limited information available relating either to the number or size distribution of automotive particle emissions and detailed evidence has still to be established. To develop an understanding in the area of automotive particulate emissions a programme was carried out concentrating on tailpipe emissions as measured at the regulated particulate sampling point in a dilution tunnel. A previous literature study by CONCAWE had identified analytical techniques considered to be suitable for this application and which are capable of measuring both mass and number size distributions. Several variations of these techniques are available in the research field and the programme aimed to assess and compare their operation and performance.

Levels of ambient particulate matter have become the focus of increased attention over recent years as a result of studies suggesting an association between exposure and adverse health effects. Whilst research is continuing in many areas to identify a biological mechanism whereby this association can be explained, as yet there are only hypotheses. Causal relationships between observed health effects (i.e. increased hospital admissions, mortality, respiratory or heart problems) and any specific characteristic of the ambient aerosol have yet to be confirmed. Ambient aerosol has a complex chemistry and a wide range of physical properties, most of which undergo constant modification or transformation within the atmosphere. The particles in this aerosol may have originated either from natural or anthropogenic sources and may be either primary emissions (i.e. directly emitted to the atmosphere as particles) or secondary particles - formed by reaction of gas phase components.

Within EPEFE the relationship between exhaust emissions of five 1996 heavy duty engines including advanced technologies and an eleven diesel fuel matrix has been investigated. The fuel matrix was designed to study the effects of decorrelated fuel properties (density, polyaromatics, cetane number, back-end volatility (T95)). The main programme consisted of engine testing on the 88/77 EEC test cycle at standard engine settings. The findings were quantified using regression equations and showed, that fuel effects varied in both magnitude and direction between the four emission components. Individual engines had different emission levels and responded differently to fuel properties, due to engine technology. Additional tests were conducted with selected fuels at adjusted engine settings and timing. The observed density effect on emissions can be compensated for and fully explained by physical interactions with the injection system.

Automotive diesel fuel has traditionally been produced by atmospheric distillation of crude oil to provide a product meeting the requirements of diesel engines and their operators. More recently there has been a need worldwide to increase supply of diesel fuel relative to other petroleum fuels and this has led to the increased use of catalytically cracked blendstock, and a review of properties limiting product yield. This paper describes some of these key properties including the boiling range, low temperature performance, cetane number and storage stability. The performance of extended boiling range fuels in automotive equipment and their effect on emissions is discussed as are changes in ignition quality characterised by cetane number. Increased product yield by means of selected low temperature flow improvers is discussed with reference to field trials in Australia.