Search Results

A test programme designed to investigate the influence of gasoline vapour pressure and ethanol content on evaporative emissions from modern passenger cars was carried out by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission together with CONCAWE and EUCAR. Seven gasoline passenger cars representative of current EURO 3/4 emissions technology were tested for evaporative emissions with ten different test fuels. The test fuel matrix comprised 60 and 70 kPa hydrocarbon base fuels with 5 and 10% ethanol splash blends and 5 and 10% ethanol matched volatility blends. The test protocol was based on the European homologation test procedure. Although the test protocol turned out to have a significant influence on the results, the programme provided valuable information and it was possible to draw several clear conclusions.

The results of an investigation of the influence of the sulphur fuel content and different dilution techniques on fine particulate emissions are reported in this paper. Fuels with two different sulphur contents (<10 ppm and approx. 200 ppm) were used for a Diesel and a gasoline vehicle in order to compare four different dilution procedures. These comprised the standard CVS tunnel and two pre-heated and one non-heated direct dilution systems. Various particulate measurement instruments were employed simultaneously, including SMPS, CPC, and ELPI for number and size, the standard gravimetric filter method for mass. In addition, Soxhlet extraction for chemical composition was carried out. A higher fuel sulphur content was found to clearly increase particulate emissions from the Diesel and the gasoline vehicle for higher load. The increase in emissions was due to the contribution of condensed material and most of it could be clearly brought into relation with to sulphur compounds.