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Regulatory compliance measurements for vehicle emissions are generally performed in well equipped test facilities using chassis dynamometers that simulate on-road conditions. There is also a requirement for obtaining accurate information from vehicles as they operate on the road. An on-board system has been developed to measure real-time mass emission of NOx, fuel consumption, road load, and engine output. The system consists of a dedicated data recorder and a variety of sensors that measure air-to-fuel ratios, NOx concentrations, intake air flow rates, and ambient temperature, pressure and humidity. The system can be placed on the passenger seat and operate without external power. This paper describes in detail the configuration and signal processing techniques used by the on-board measurement system. The authors explain the methods and algorithms used to obtain (1) real-time mass emission of NOx, (2) real-time fuel consumption, (3) road load, and (4) engine output.

A high speed gas chromatography system has been developed for automotive emissions measurement. The system is capable of quantifying hydrocarbons from C2 to C12 compounds. The separation time required for an analysis is only five minutes. Major technical challenges were (1) tandem quick heat cold traps, (2) four parallel ovens design, and (3) the mid-point back flush technique. Demonstrations of the system have been done using FTP75 cold transient phase. The results indicate that the system is well suited for hydrocarbon speciation measurement with very simple and quick operations.

The objective of the work was to develop a fast response infrared analyzer that makes possible the cyclic measurement of exhaust gas concentrations from internal combustion engines. The new analyzer achieves T90 response time of less than 30 milliseconds and is capable of measuring CO, CO2 and HC (Hydrocarbons) simultaneously. Another feature of the analyzer is its' capability to measure simultaneously from multiple sample points, i.e., one optical bench with a maximum of four sample cells can measure CO, CO2 and HC simultaneously from four different sources. Results from a multiple cylinder engine show that this analyzer can be an effective tool for analysis and diagnosis of internal combustion engine exhaust products.

This report describes a new, maintenance-free exhaust gas analysis system for automobile quality control. It incorporates non-dispersive infrared. (NDIR) gas analyzers employing a cross-flow modulation method which provides virtually drift-free performance and eliminates the need for optical adjustment, Analyzer modulation is by means of alternating the flow of sample gas and reference gas into two cells with a rotary valve of simple construction. Microcomputers are used for system control and to process the data. This system measures oxides of nitrogen (NOx), total hydrocarbon (THC) and carbon monoxide/dioxide (CO/CO2) with three analyzers. Full scale ranges of 50 ppm for NOx and 20 ppm for THC are feasible with cells merely 35 mm long. In each case the signal-to-noise ratio is 100. In actual operation, the system drift was so low that it required no span calibration over a period of three months.

This paper reports on real-time mass concentration measurements using the technique of photoacoustic spectroscopy. The measurements were made using a differential photoacoustic cell in which infrared absorption by diesel particulates at the 10.59 μm wavelength was measured with a 2.2 watt CO2 laser. Infrared absorption of the diesel particulates at 10.59 μm wavelength was treated as Rayieigh absorption since the mean mass diameter is around 0.1 μm and small enough to neglect the size effects. A dual cell method allows the separation of the particulate absorption signal from that of interfering gases present in diesel engine exhaust. In practice the sample gases from the dilution tunnel were introduced into two cells, one with and one without a particulate filter. The signals were calibrated by simultaneous measurement using the diesel particulate filter method of the U.S. EPA.