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Euro IV emissions limits have become a major milestone for the car industry in Europe. To comply with reduced emissions targets, a significant effort was required to minimize light-off time and to improve steady state performance for the pollutants HC and NOx. The main challenges and the technical solutions are discussed in this present work. Among them are substantial catalyst improvements needed to accommodate the progressively more severe agings related to high-speed driving conditions in Europe, and the close-coupled location of the catalyst, with the introduction of the converter welded directly to the exhaust manifold. Vehicles equipped with Euro IV emissions systems have been running in the field for more than 2 years and have shown that only a systems approach, including optimized exhaust manifold and canning designs, robust engine calibration strategies and specifically developed washcoats, can lead to a cost effective emissions solution.

The European emission legislation for two-wheeler vehicles driven by engines of ≤ 50 cm₃ is continuously developing. One of the most important issues in the near future will be the finalization of the European Commission's proposals for future steps in the emissions regulations as well as the verification of the impacts of current standards on the market. To have a basis for the discussion about these topics, the Association for Emissions Control by Catalyst (AECC) with the Institute for Internal Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics of Graz University of Technology (IVT) carried out an extensive test program to show the actual emission situation of state-of-the-art mopeds including mass and number of particulate matter as well as unregulated gaseous components. One of the main goals of these tests was to measure exhaust emissions without any modifications to the engines of standard production vehicles available on the European market.

The market share of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) vehicles has been increasing, promoted by its positive contribution to the overall fleet fuel economy improvement. It has however been reported that this type of engine is emitting more ultrafine particles than the Euro 6c Particle Number (PN) limit of 6·1011 particles/km that will be introduced in Europe as of September 2017 in parallel with the Real Driving Emission (RDE) procedure. The emissions performance of a Euro 6b GDI passenger car was measured, first in the OEM build without a Gasoline Particulate Filter (GPF) and then as a demonstrator with a coated GPF in the underfloor position. Regulated emissions were measured on the European regulatory test cycles NEDC and WLTC and in real-world conditions with Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS) according to the published European RDE procedure (Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/427 and 2016/646).

The gap between diesel vehicle emissions in laboratory tests compared to those in use has been addressed by the introduction of the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) requirements. Modern diesel technology now demonstrates low emissions on the road over a wide range of driving conditions. This paper further demonstrates that consistent low nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particle number (PN) emissions can be achieved over a wide range of driving conditions beyond Euro 6d RDE requirements, with emission control technologies combined in an integrated approach. An LNT (Lean NOx Trap) is combined with a dual-dosing SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system. Low-load NOx control is achieved by the LNT in combination with a close-coupled SCR coated on the Diesel Particulate Filter (SDPF). High load conditions, on the other hand, are covered by the underfloor SCR system with a second AdBlue® injector.

To get an overview of the emission situation in the field of small non-road mobile machinery powered by various types of SI engines, the Association for Emissions Control by Catalyst (AECC), together with the Institute for Internal Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics (IVT) of Graz University of Technology, conducted a customized test program. The main goal for this campaign was to derive information regarding the emissions of regulated gaseous components (following European Directive 97/68/EC) as well as particulate matter. With regard to the big variety of different engines that are available on the European and North-American market, the most representative ones had to be chosen. This resulted in a pool of test devices to cover different engine working principles (2-Stroke and 4-Stroke), technological standards (low-cost and professional tools) and different emissions control strategies (advanced combustion and exhaust gas aftertreatment).