The Effect of Fuel Type and Aftertreatment Method on Ultrafine Particle Emissions from a Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine

Abstract

Two potential strategies for reducing diesel emissions are exhaust aftertreatment and the use of reformulated or alternative fuels. Little is yet known about the impact on ultrafine particle emissions of combining exhaust aftertreatment with such increasingly common fuels. This paper reports ultrafine particle size distribution measurements for a study in which the impact of such fuels on emissions from a heavy duty diesel engine employing different aftertreatment configurations was evaluated. Eight different fuels were tested: Canadian No. 1 and No. 2 diesel; low sulfur diesel fuel; two different ultra low sulfur diesel fuels (< 30 ppm S); Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel; 20% biodiesel blended with ultra low sulfur diesel fuel; and PuriNOx™. The fuels were tested in combination with four exhaust configurations: engine out, diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), continuously regenerating diesel particle filter (CRDPF), and engine gas recirculation with CRDPF (EGR-DPF). In general, aftertreatment configuration was f...