Search Results

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.

AECC, the Association for Emissions Control by Catalyst, conducted a test program to compare the newly developed World-harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) with the current European regulatory New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) and the cold-start Common Artemis Driving Cycle (CADC). Vehicle engines and aftertreatment technologies were selected to cover a wide range of future systems. Six European commercially available passenger cars were chosen: three Euro 5 Gasoline Direct Injection cars, two Euro 6 Diesel cars and a Euro 5 non-plug-in gasoline hybrid car. The hybrid car was tested with three different battery state of charge: nominal, minimum charge, and maximum charge. Investigations on the test temperature were also conducted by comparing emissions at 25°C and at −7°C. Regulated gaseous emissions (HC, CO, NOx) and particulate mass and particles number were measured, together with additional pollutants such as CH4, NO2 and ammonia.

The paper is aimed at investigating backpressure and backpressure variation of three way catalysts (TWC). Results presented show that backpressure variation is influenced by measurement error, substrate dimensional variation, and washcoat thickness. A broad range of anticipated washcoat differences between coaters is also considered. Results provided shows that Delphi high-flow FlexMetal catalyst achieves optimum emissions control with up to 40% less backpressure, leading to 5% additional torque on a 3.2 L engine.

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).