Measurements of In-Use Emissions from Modern Vehicles Using an On-Board Measurement System

Abstract

Emissions from "low emitting" modern vehicles were measured on-road using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) on-board emissions measurement system. Twenty vehicles were tested on road and on a chassis dynamometer. A subset of four vehicles was tested on a test track as well as on the dynamometer. Comparison of on-board measurements with laboratory measurements while operating on the dynamometer showed agreement within measurement and test to test variability. Comparison of dynamometer measurements with test track measurements showed some larger differences attributable to track test conditions. On-road and dynamometer tests were conducted on the remaining 16 vehicles, with the on-road testing including freeway, arterial, and residential streets. The on-road testing showed that most of the low emitting vehicles under most operating conditions are operating below certification levels. Most vehicles reached a hot stabilized condition within 60 to 100 s. Hot running emissions were on average very low once the catalyst lights off. For NMHC, the majority of the "certification" emissions occur during the start-up, especially for PZEVs. NOx and CO also showed a high fraction of "certification" emissions during start-up, but also showed emission spikes under hot running conditions, especially during transients.