Air Pollution by the Exhaust Emissions from Construction Machinery under Actual Operating Conditions

Abstract

The paper discusses the problem of exhaust emissions from non-road vehicles. In many cities there are low emission zones for vehicles. Unfortunately non-road engines are excluded from this restriction e.g. construction machinery operates on construction sites, including those located in the said zones. Therefore, the paper presents the results of the exhaust emission tests from an excavator under actual operating conditions. For the tests the authors used a portable exhaust emissions analyzer SEMTECH DS by Sensors for the measurement of gaseous exhaust emissions and SEMTECH LAM for the measurement of the emission of Particulate Matter. The analyzers provide an on-line measurement of the concentrations of the exhaust components under actual operating conditions. The tests performed under actual traffic conditions provide invaluable information regarding the emission during actual operating conditions. In the paper the authors analyzed the relations between the engine operating parameters, vehicle parameters, road conditions (traffic congestion) and the exhaust emissions. The authors, despite differences in the methodology, also presented a comparison of the obtained results with the currently applicable exhaust emission limits in order to draw attention to this issue in urban areas.