Impact Of A Pre-combustion Retrofit Device On Vehicular Emissions: A Case Study

Abstract

Vehicular emissions are a major cause of air pollution in the cities worldwide. Increased numbers of vehicles and the vehicle miles traveled by them every year means that the emissions are going to have a detrimental effect on the life and environment of this planet. Various control strategies are employed by the transportation and air quality managers at the state and regional levels to improve the ambient air quality. This research was conducted as part of the North Central Texas Council of Governments' Aftermarket Technology and Fuel Additive Research Program, its effort to make the DFW region's air cleaner. The DFW Metroplex is designated as a "non-attainment" area for ozone. In this research, a pre-combustion retrofit device was installed on a light duty vehicle and was tested to study the impact of the device on the emissions coming out of the vehicle. An On-Board System (OBS-1300) was used to measure the second by second emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), under on-road traffic conditions. Emission measurements were carried out for both 'before' and 'after' the installation of the device and on both arterial and highway test tracks. Data was collected for both peak and off-peak time intervals. The device has a major impact on NOx emissions, with a maximum decrease of 26.2% occurring at highway track's off-peak acceleration mode. A significant decrease in emissions of CO2 could also be seen in case of all the modes and both the time intervals on an arterial test track.