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Fuel efficiency is one of the most important parameters in advanced vehicles. Therefore, the measurement of fuel consumption in-situ and in real-time is obviously demanded in development and evaluation processes of new engines and vehicles. This paper describes a new concept for measuring fuel consumption in real-time, which utilizing raw exhaust gas flow rate and exhaust air-to-fuel ratio (AFR). The AFR is defined as the mass ratio of air and fuel supplied to the engine, and the mass flow rate of exhaust gas can be regarded as the summation of the mass flow rate of air and fuel. This means the fuel consumption can be calculated from exhaust flow rate and AFR. To realize in-situ, real-time measurement, we used an ultrasonic exhaust flow meter which can measure a wide flow range accurately with no pressure loss, and a fast response zirconia sensor which can be installed onto the exhaust pipe directly without any sampling system.

A new on-board portable emission measurement system (PEMS) for gaseous emissions has been designed and developed to meet CFR Part 1065 requirements. The new system consists of a heated flame ionization detector (HFID) for the measurement of total hydrocarbon, a heated chemiluminescence detector (HCLD) for the measurement of NOx, and a heated non-dispersive infra-red detector (HNDIR) for the measurement of CO and CO2. The oxygen interference and relative sensitivity of several hydrocarbon components have been optimized for the HFID. The CO2 and H2O quenching effect on the HCLD have been compensated using measured CO2 and H2O concentration. The spectral overlap and molecular interaction of H2O on the HNDIR measurement has also been compensated using an independent H2O concentration measurement. The basic performance of the new on-board emission measurement system has been verified accordingly with CFR part 1065 and all of the performances have met with CFR part 1065 requirement.

Due to a need for a robust measurement system for on-board real-world vehicle emission measurement, a heated ND-IR(h-NDIR) technique has been developed and evaluated for its potential. The h-NDIR is capable of measuring CO and CO2 under wet-based condition by correcting interference from co-existing gas with an algorithm specially developed for the present study. The resulting H2O interference to the CO2 measurement is less than 0.01vol% for zero point and less than ±1% for span points and that of CO measurement is less than 0.001vol% for zero point and less than ±2% for span point against 0 to12vol% H2O. An on-board emission measurement system using the h-NDIR in combination with an Annubar® flow meter and an air to fuel ratio sensor has been evaluated. The result reveal correlation between the present system and a chassis test system to be within 7% for fuel consumption, within 5% for CO mass emission, and within 6% for CO2 mass emission.

A sulfur analyzer utilizing an ultraviolet fluorescent (UVF) detector has been developed to measure sulfur components in vehicle emissions. Generally, it is considered that an UVF detector cannot be used to measure sulfur components in vehicle emission due to a significant interference from NO in sample gases. In this study, an O3 injection technique has been developed to eliminate NO interference. Using this technique, the interference from NO has been reduced to less than 0.01 ppm with 3000 ppm NO. These result show a capability of utilizing UVF with this O3 injection technique to measure sulfur components in vehicle emissions including emissions with high concentrations of NO. An oxidation catalyst has also been evaluated to measure total reduced sulfur, TRS.

In previous multi-dimensional modeling on spray dynamics and vapor formation, single component fuel with pure substance has been analyzed to assess the mixture formation. Then it should be expected that the evaporation process could be performed for the multicomponent fuel such as actual Gasoline and Diesel gas oil. In this study, vapor-liquid equilibrium prediction was conducted for multicomponent fuels such as 3 and 10 components mixed solution with ideal solution analysis and non-ideal solution analysis. And the computation of distillation characteristics was conducted for the steady state fuel condition fuel condition to understand the evaporation process. As a result, calculated distillation characteristics are consistent well with experiment results. And the evaporation process of a multicomponent droplet in the combustion chamber has been calculated with the variation of ambient pressure and temperature.

Numerical models of three kinds of mass emission measurement systems, i.e. the constant volume sampler (CVS) system, the mini-diluter system and the direct modal-mass measurement system have been built on PC using a software called Mathematica®. The models are capable of simulating gas compounds concentration in the CVS bags and mass emitted during a test, using the time trend exhaust emission patterns, the exhaust gas flow rate pattern, and initial setting values like dilution ratio. Major error factors in the measurement systems, such as H2O condensation, gas compounds present in ambient air, delay and smoothing of the gas stream, and performance of the analyzers, can also be introduced to the calculation. Using the models, various techniques to optimize the sampling system are quantitatively compared.

The subject of engine emissions is expected to be at the forefront of environmental regulations and consumers’ concerns for years to come. As technology develops to comply with new and different requirements in various regions of the world, understanding the fundamental principles of how engine emissions occur, and how they can be properly measured, is vitally important. Engine Emissions Measurement Handbook, developed and co-authored by HORIBA Automotive Test Systems team addresses the main aspects of this subject. Written with the technical user in mind, this title is a must-have for those involved in engine development and testing, and environmental researchers focusing on better ways to minimize emissions pollution.