Effect of Extreme Temperatures and Driving Conditions on Gaseous Pollutants of a Euro 6d-Temp Gasoline Vehicle

Barouch Giechaskiel,Panagiota Dilara,Giorgio Martini,Tommaso Selleri,Marcos Otura,Zisis Samaras,Christian Ferrarese,Victor Valverde,Ricardo Suarez-Bertoa,Jon Andersson,Anastasios Kontses,Andreas Balazs,Anastasios Melas

doi:10.3390/atmos12081011

Abstract

Gaseous emissions of modern Euro 6d vehicles, when tested within real driving emissions (RDE) boundaries, are, in most cases, at low levels. There are concerns, though, about their emission performance when tested at or above the boundaries of ambient and driving conditions requirements of RDE regulations. In this study, a Euro 6d-Temp gasoline direct injection (GDI) vehicle with three-way catalyst and gasoline particulate filter was tested on the road and in a laboratory at temperatures ranging between −30 °C and 50 °C, with cycles simulating urban congested traffic, uphill driving while towing a trailer at 85% of the vehicle’s maximum payload, and dynamic driving. The vehicle respected the Euro 6 emission limits, even though they were not applicable to the specific cycles, which were outside of the RDE environmental and trip boundary conditions. Most of the emissions were produced during cold starts and at low ambient temperatures. Heavy traffic, dynamic driving, and high payload were found to increase emissions depending on the pollutant. Even though this car was one of the lowest emitting cars found in the literature, the proposed future Euro 7 limits will require a further decrease in cold start emissions in order to ensure low emission levels under most ambient and driving conditions, particularly in urban environments. Nevertheless, motorway emissions will also have to be controlled well.

Highlights

Air pollution, particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ground-level ozone (O3), has significant impacts on the health of the European population, in urban areas [1]
A Euro 6d-Temp gasoline direct injection (GDI) vehicle with threeway catalyst and gasoline particulate filter was tested on the road and in a laboratory at temperatures ranging between −30 ◦C and 50 ◦C, with cycles simulating urban congested traffic, uphill driving while towing a trailer at 85% of the vehicle’s maximum payload, and dynamic driving
Dynamic driving, and high payload were found to increase emissions depending on the pollutant. Even though this car was one of the lowest emitting cars found in the literature, the proposed future Euro 7 limits will require a further decrease in cold start emissions in order to ensure low emission levels under most ambient and driving conditions, in urban environments

Summary

Introduction

Particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ground-level ozone (O3), has significant impacts on the health of the European population, in urban areas [1]. The lockdown measures introduced by most European countries to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 led to significant reductions in the emission of air pollutants, from road transport, aviation, and international shipping. NO2 concentrations were significantly reduced, independent of meteorological conditions [2,3,4,5,6], highlighting the important contribution of road transport to air quality, in cities. The winter season and low temperatures are usually correlated with high ambient air pollution due to increased emissions (household heating, coal burning, and road transport being the main contributors) [7,8,9,10]. The winter period is typically associated with increased tropospheric concentrations of NO2, PM [12]

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Conclusion