Buses retrofitting with diesel particle filters: Real-world fuel economy and roadworthiness test considerations

Retrofitting older vehicles with diesel particulate filter（DPF） is a cost-effective measure to quickly and efficiently reduce particulate matter emissions. This study experimentally analyzes real-world performance of buses retrofitted with CRT DPFs. 18 in-use Euro III technology urban and intercity buses were investigated for a period of 12 months. The influence of the DPF and of the vehicle natural aging on buses fuel economy are analyzed and discussed. While the effect of natural deterioration is about 1.2%–1.3%, DPF contribution to fuel economy penalty is found to be 0.6% to 1.8%, depending on the bus type. DPF filtration efficiency is analyzed throughout the study and found to be in average 96% in the size range of 23–560 nm. Four different load and non-load engine operating modes are investigated on their appropriateness for roadworthiness tests. High idle is found to be the most suitable regime for PN diagnostics considering particle number filtration efficiency.

Variations in surface functional groups, carbon chemical state and graphitization degree during thermal deactivation of diesel soot particles

The thermal deactivation of diesel soot particles exerts a significant influence on the control strategy for the regeneration of diesel particulate filters(DPFs).This work focused on the changes in the surface functional groups,carbon chemical state,and graphitization degree during thermal treatment in an inert gas environment at intermediate temperatures of 600℃,800℃,and 1000℃ and explore the chemical species that were desorbed from the diesel soot surface during thermal treatment using a thermogravimetric analyser coupled with a gas-chromatograph mass spectrometer(TGA-GC/MS).The surface functional groups and carbon chemical statewere characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR)and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).The graphitization degree was evaluated by means of Raman spectroscopy(RS).The concentrations of aliphatic C–H,C–OH,C=O,and O–C=O groups are reduced for diesel soot and carbon black when increasing the thermal treatment temperature,while the sp^(2)/sp^(3) hybridized ratio and graphitization degree enhance.These results provide comprehensive evidence of the decreased reactivity of soot samples.Among oxygenated functional groups,the percentage reduction during thermal treatment is the largest for the O–C=O groups owing to its worst thermodynamic stability.TGA-GC/MS results show that the aliphatic and aromatic chains and oxygenated species would be desorbed from the soot surface during 1000℃ thermal treatment of diesel soot.

Experimental investigation into the oxidation reactivity,morphology and graphitization of soot particles from diesel/n-octanol mixtures

Aiming to investigate the impacts of n-octanol addition on the oxidation reactivity,morphology and graphitization of diesel exhaust particles,soot samples were collected from a four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine fueled with D100(neat diesel fuel),DO15(85%diesel and 15%n-octanol,V/V)and DO30(70%diesel and 30%n-octanol,V/V).All tests were conducted at two engine speeds of 1370 and 2150 r/min under a fixed torque of 125 N·m.The soot properties were characterized by thermogravimetric analyzer(TGA),transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and Raman spectroscopy(RS).The higher volatile organic fraction content,lower soot oxidation temperatures and lower activation energy from TGA results indicated that both the increasing n-octanol concentration and engine speed enhanced the soot oxidation reactivity.Additionally,quantitative analysis of TEM images showed that the soot derived from DO30 had the smallest primary particle diameters and fractal dimension,followed by those of soot produced by DO15 and D100.The RS results demonstrated that the n-octanol addition and higher engine speed led to a larger D1-FWHM(D1-full width at half maximum),A_(D1)/A_(T)(area ratio of D1 band and the total spectral)and A_(D3)/A_(T)(area ratio of D3 band and the total spectral)as well as a smaller L_(a)(crystallite width),revealing a lower degree of graphitization.Furthermore,the correlations between characterization parameters of soot properties and reactivity were nonlinear.

On-board measurement of particle numbers and their size distribution from a light-duty diesel vehicle:Influences of VSP and altitude

In this study,the particle size-resolved distribution from a China-3 certificated light-duty diesel vehicle was measured by using a portable emission measurement system（PEMS）.In order to examine the influences of vehicle specific power（VSP） and high-altitude operation,measurements were conducted at 8 constant speeds,which ranged from 10 to 80 km/hr at10 km/hr intervals,and two different high altitudes,namely 2200 and 3200 m.The results demonstrated that the numbers of particles in all size ranges decreased significantly as VSP increased when the test vehicle was running at lower speeds（〈 20 km/hr）,while at a moderate speed（between 30 and 60 km/hr）,the particle number was statistically insensitive to increase VSP.Under high-speed cruising conditions,the numbers of ultrafine particles and PM2.5were insensitive to changes in VSP,but the numbers of nanoparticles and PM10 surged considerably.An increase in the operational altitude of the test vehicle resulted in increased particle number emissions at low and high driving speeds;however,particle numbers obtained at moderate speeds decreased as altitude rose.When the test vehicle was running at moderate speeds,particle numbers measured at the two altitudes were very close,except for comparatively higher number concentrations of nanoparticles measured at 2200 m.

Effect of lubricant sulfur on the morphology and elemental composition of diesel exhaust particles

This work investigates the effects of lubricant sulfur contents on the morphology,nanostructure,size distribution and elemental composition of diesel exhaust particle on a light-duty diesel engine. Three kinds of lubricant（LS-oil,MS-oil and HS-oil,all of which have different sulfur contents：0.182%,0.583% and 1.06%,respectively）were used in this study. The morphologies and nanostructures of exhaust particles were analyzed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy（TEM）. Size distributions of primary particles were determined through advanced image-processing software. Elemental compositions of exhaust particles were obtained through X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy（EDS）. Results show that as lubricant sulfur contents increase,the macroscopic structure of diesel exhaust particles turn from chain-like to a more complex agglomerate. The inner cores of the core-shell structure belonging to these primary particles change little; the shell thickness decreases,and the spacing of carbon layer gradually descends,and amorphous materials that attached onto outer carbon layer of primary particles increase. Size distributions of primary particles present a unimodal and normal distribution,and higher sulfur contents lead to larger size primary particles. The sulfur content in lubricants directly affects the chemical composition in the particles. The content of C（carbon）decreases as sulfur increases in the lubricants,while the contents of O（oxygen）,S（sulfur）and trace elements（including S,Si（silicon）,Fe（ferrum）,P（phosphorus）,Ca（calcium）,Zn（zinc）,Mg（magnesium）,Cl（chlorine）and Ni（nickel））all increase in particles.

Characterizations of organic compounds in diesel exhaust particulates

To characterize how the speed and load of a medium-duty diesel engine affected the organic compounds in diesel particle matter（PM） below 1 μm, four driving conditions were examined. At all four driving conditions, concentration of identifiable organic compounds in PM ultrafine（34–94 nm） and accumulation（94–1000 nm） modes ranged from 2.9 to 5.7 μg/m3 and 9.5 to 16.4 μg/m3, respectively. As a function of driving conditions, the non-oxygencontaining organics exhibited a reversed concentration trend to the oxygen-containing organics. The identified organic compounds were classified into eleven classes： alkanes,alkenes, alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, carboxylic acids, esters, ketones, alcohols, ethers,nitrogen-containing compounds, and sulfur-containing compounds. At all driving conditions,alkane class consistently showed the highest concentration（8.3 to 18.0 μg/m3） followed by carboxylic acid, esters, ketones and alcohols. Twelve polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons（PAHs）were identified with a total concentration ranging from 37.9 to 174.8 ng/m3. In addition, nine nitrogen-containing polycyclic aromatic compounds（NPACs） were identified with a total concentration ranging from 7.0 to 10.3 ng/m3. The most abundant PAH（phenanthrene）and NPACs（7,8-benzoquinoline and 3-nitrophenanthrene） comprise a similar molecular（3 aromatic-ring） structure under the highest engine speed and engine load.

Characterization of particulate matter from diesel passenger cars tested on chassis dynamometers

Emission characterization of particle number as well as particle mass from three diesel passenger cars equipped with diesel particulate filter（DPF）, diesel oxidation catalyst（DOC）and exhaust gas recirculation（EGR） under the vehicle driving cycles and regulatory cycle.Total particle number emissions（PNEs） decreased gradually during speed-up of vehicle from 17.3 to 97.3 km/hr. As the average vehicle speed increases, the size-segregated peak of particle number concentration shifts to smaller size ranges of particles. The correlation analysis with various particulate components such as particle number concentration（PNC）,ultrafine particle number concentration（UFPNC） and particulate matter（PM） mass was conducted to compare gaseous compounds（CO, CO2, HC and NOx）. The UFPNC and PM were not only emitted highly in Seoul during severe traffic jam conditions, but also have good correlation with hydrocarbons and NOxinfluencing high potential on secondary aerosol generation. The effect of the dilution temperature on total PNC under the New European Driving Cycle（NEDC）, was slightly higher than the dilution ratio. In addition, the nuclei mode（DP： ≤ 13 nm） was confirmed to be more sensitive to the dilution temperature rather than other particle size ranges. Comparison with particle composition between vehicle speed cycles and regulatory cycle showed that sulfate was slightly increased at regulatory cycle, while other components were relatively similar. During cold start test, semivolatile nucleation particles were increased due to effect of cold environment. Research on particle formation dependent on dilution conditions of diesel passenger cars under the NEDC is important to verify impact on vehicular traffic and secondary aerosol formation in Seoul.