NMOG Emissions Results According to PROCONVE L7 Regulation. Flex Fuel Case Study. 2020-36-0019

The global automotive industry has been challenged over the years to reduce tailpipe emissions. It is not different for Brazilian market. From January 2022, all light passenger and commercial road vehicles sold in Brazil will need to comply with PROCONVE L7 (PL7) emissions regulation, which drives the vehicle manufacturers to look for feasible engineering and finance solutions. PL7 brings more stringent emissions limits and new procedures to be followed, like the Non-Methane Organic Gases (NMOG) determination. This study considers NMOG calculation with ozone formation potential corrections which will be detailed in this paper. When running reference hydrous ethanol fuel (EHR) tests, one of the biggest challenges is related to NMOG generation prior to catalyst light off. Most of NMOG emissions come from engine startup and warm up phase during the NBR 6601 cycle. The objective of this work is to analyze NMOG emissions results for EHR, reference gasohol fuel (A22) and the blend of 50%/50% in volume between A22 and EHR (A11H50). A light passenger vehicle with 1.5L port fuel injection, three cylinders, flex fuel engine was used in this study. The emissions tests were raised at Ford Tatui Development Center. The engine calibration was optimized for each type of fuel. The main calibration actions are described and a detailed analysis for NMOG results (including non-methane hydrocarbons, ethanol and aldehydes) is provided.