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This study examines the effect of a ceramic particle trap and a manganese fuel additive on the mutagenic activity and chemical composition of diesel exhaust particulate matter from a heavy-duty mining engine. Particles were collected by dilution tunnel sampling from a 4-cylinder, Caterpillar 3304, naturally-aspirated, indirect-injection engine operated at six steady-state conditions. Depending on engine load and speed the ceramic particle trap reduced the following emissions: particulate matter, 80 – 94%; soluble organic fraction (SOF), 83 – 95%; 1-nitropyrene, 94 – 96%; and SOF mutagencity, 72% (cycle-weighted average). When the Mn fuel additive was used without a ceramic particle trap the total cycle mutagenic activity emitted increased 7-fold, in part, due to elevated emissions of 1-nitropyrene.

A study of factors affecting hydrocarbon oxidation in a diesel oxidation catalyst was undertaken. The objective was to determine whether interactions between particulate-adsorbed hydrocarbons and the catalyst significantly influenced hydrocarbon oxidation. Theoretical modeling supported by experimental data obtained at the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Diesel Emissions Research Laboratory indicated that the mass of particles interacting with the ceramic support was negligible. Additionally, a model of hydrocarbon adsorption onto diesel particulate predicted that over 98% by mass of exhaust hydrocarbons would be gas-phase, rather than particulate-adsorbed, at converter operating temperatures. A second physical process, the diffusion of gas phase hydrocarbons to the catalytic surface, was subsequently investigated. Theoretical and experimental results for the unburnt fuel hydrocarbons indicated that hydrocarbon oxidation was diffusion limited under high temperature operating conditions.

A single-stage dilution system has been designed to simulate the process of engine exhaust dilution in the atmosphere. An exhaust sample stream is introduced into a partial flow tunnel where it is diluted at a controlled rate. Temperature, relative humidity, dilution ratio and rate, and residence time are all adjustable. The system includes a turbulence generator to adjust the intensity of turbulence in the tunnel and a wake disk to control the initial mixing rate. Numerical methods were used to simulate flow fields, velocity fields, and mixing profiles for gases and particles. Mixing profiles for a gaseous tracer and particles of different sizes were also determined experimentally and compared with the model predictions. Critical parameters that influence mixing profiles and dilution rates predicted by modeling were demonstrated experimentally. Predicted and measured normalized mixing profiles were found to be in good agreement.

Earlier work [1] shows that kinetics of Diesel soot oxidation is different from that of ethylene diffusion flame soot oxidation [2], possibly due to metals from lube oil. This study investigates the influence of metals on soot oxidation and the exhaust particle emissions using lube oil dosed fuel (2 % by volume). This method does not simulate normal lube oil consumption, but is used as a means of adding metals to particles for oxidation studies. This study also provides insight into the effect of systems that mix lube oil with fuel to minimize oil change service. The HTO-TDMA (High Temperature Oxidation-Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer) technique [1] was used to measure the surface specific oxidation rate of Diesel particles over the temperature range 500-750 °C. Diesel particles sampled from the exhaust stream of a Diesel engine were size segregated by differential mobility and oxidized in situ in air in a heated flow tube of known residence time and temperature profile.