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The Environmental Protection Agency, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and California Air Resources Board released the joint mid-term Technical Assessment Review of the light-duty GHG standards in July of 2016. The review generally asserted that the GHG standards adopted in calendar year 2012 for 2022-2025 model year vehicles were feasible. Although many different technologies were evaluated, the review did not assess the benefits of high compression ratio engines enabled by a high-octane low carbon fuel. This study fills in the gap in the Technical Assessment Review by examining the impacts of a 98-research octane number gasoline-ethanol blend with 25 percent ethanol. We find that this fuel would enable higher compression ratios to improve tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions by about 6 percent on most engines.

In 2008-2009, EPA and DOE tested fifteen 2008 model year Tier 2 vehicles on 27 fuels. The fuels were match-blended to specific fuel parameter targets. The fuel parameter targets were pre-selected to represent the range of fuel properties from fuel survey data from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers for 2006. EPA's analysis of the EPAct data showed that higher aromatics, ethanol, and T90 increase particulate matter (PM) emissions. EPA focused their analysis only on the targeted fuel properties and their impacts on emissions, namely RVP, T50, T90, aromatics, and ethanol. However, in the process of fuel blending, at least one non-targeted fuel property, the T70 distillation parameter, significantly exceeded 2006 Alliance survey parameters for two of the E10 test fuels. These two test fuels had very high PM emissions. In this study, we examine the impacts of adding T70 as an explanatory variable to the analysis of fuel effects on PM.

This is the second of two papers that examine the future effectiveness of the California greenhouse gas “GHG” program and the federal fuel economy program established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (“EISA 2007”) in controlling greenhouse gases. SAE 2008-01-1852 estimates the fuel economy levels that the California and federal programs can be expected to require, under assumptions stated in that paper. This paper applies those fuel economy estimates to examine the impact of the California and federal programs on lifecycle emissions of GHGs and carbon dioxide (“CO2”). EISA 2007 not only proposes to improve car and LDT fuel economy, but it also proposes to reduce GHGs through its Renewable Fuel Standards (“RFS”) provisions, which are likely to lead to substantial expansion in the use of 85% ethanol gasoline blends (E85).

In-service 1994-2003 heavy-duty trucks were acquired by West Virginia University (WVU), equipped with the WVU Mobile Emissions Measurement System (MEMS) to measure on-road NOx, and driven on road routes near Sabraton, West Virginia, and extending up to Washington, PA to obtain real-world oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions data on highways and local roads. The MEMS measured 5Hz NOx, and load was obtained from the electronic control unit. Trucks were loaded to about 95% of their gross vehicle weights. Emissions in g/mi and g/bhp-hr were computed over the various road routes. In addition, some of the trucks were tested 1 to 2 years later to determine emission changes that may have occurred for these trucks. Emission results varied significantly over the different road routes due to different speeds, driving patterns, and road grades.

The Distillation Index (DI) is a measure of the volatility of gasoline, especially its tendency to vaporize in an engine at initial start-up and during warm up. On January 27, 1999 the U.S. domestic and import automotive manufacturers petitioned the US EPA to limit the DI of all U.S. gasoline to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit as a means of reducing in-use emissions and ensuring consistent cold start and warm-up driveability.[1] Air Improvement Resource, Inc. (AIR) completed a 1999 study that evaluated the benefits of a DI cap. Overall, the 1999 AIR study estimated that the DI cap would produce a 16 and 15 percent reduction in hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) exhaust, respectively, from gasoline vehicles nationally in 2020. [2] In 2000, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers sponsored a more compreshensive examination of the emission consequences of the DI cap on which this paper is based.

The importance of the fuel in providing improved vehicle performance and reduced emissions has become widely recognized, especially in the past ten years. In 1998, an SAE paper was presented providing a systematic analyses of 1996 United States gasoline quality. This paper extends the methodology of that paper to include the impact of fuel composition on evaporative emissions, and it provides analyses of gasoline quality for the years of 1996, 1997 and 1998. The vehicle performance and emissions characteristics of gasolines were determined using data from surveys of United States' service station gasoline samples. Results are presented for: gasoline type (California RFG - reformulated gasoline, Federal RFG, low RVP - Reid Vapor Pressure, and conventional); gasoline grade (regular, intermediate and premium); individual cities; individual brands (coded); and for sulfur content.

The importance of the fuel in providing improved vehicle performance and reduced emissions has become widely recognized in the past ten years. However, few if any systematic analyses of gasoline quality have ever been published. A methodology has been developed for analyzing the vehicle performance and emissions characteristics of gasolines. It has been applied to data obtained from surveys of United States' service station gasoline samples obtained in 23 cities during 1996. Results are presented for: gasoline type (California RFG - reformulated gasoline, Federal RFG, low RVP - Reid Vapor Pressure, and conventional); gasoline grade (regular, intermediate and premium); individual cities; individual brands (coded); and for sulfur content, the fuel property with the greatest current interest. It is concluded that large differences exist among commercial gasolines for all of the items evaluated.

Evaporative emission tests were performed on forty in-use late model passenger cars using different volatility fuels and varying temperatures. Results show that diurnal and hot soak emissions are quite sensitive to temperature, and also that the temperature sensitivity increases with the use of higher volatility fuels. Empirical models were developed to express diurnal and hot soak emissions as a function of fuel volatility and temperature.