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The transport sector is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. This study investigated three greenhouse gases emitted from road transport using a probe vehicle: CO₂, N₂O and CH₄ emissions as a function of cold start and ambient temperatures. A real-world driving cycle has been developed at Leeds and referred as LU-BS, which has an urban free flow driving pattern. The test vehicle was driven on the same route by the same driver on different days with different ambient temperatures. All the journeys were started from cold. An in-vehicle FTIR emission measurement system was installed on a EURO2 emission compliance SI car for emissions measurement at a rate of 0.5 Hz. This emission measurement system was calibrated on a standard CVS measurement system and showed an excellent agreement on the CO₂ measurement with the CVS results. The N₂O and CH₄ were calibrated by calibration gas bottles.

Exhaust emissions were measured under real world urban driving conditions using a set of in-vehicle FTIR emission measurement system, which is able to measure 65 emission components simultaneously at a rate of 0.5 Hz. The test vehicle was a modern EURO4 emission compliant SI car equipped with temperature measurement along the exhaust pipe across the catalyst so as to match thermal characteristics to emission profiles. A free flow urban driving cycle was used for the test and four repeated journeys were conducted. The results were compared to EU emissions legislation. The results show that the warm up of the lubricating oil needed 15 minutes. The TWC needed about 200 seconds to reach full conversion efficiency. CO, THC and NOx emissions exceeded the EURO4 exhaust emission legislation. CO2 emissions were well above the type approval value of this vehicle.

In this study the influence of various blends biodiesel on steady state exhaust emissions was determined. A series tests were conducted over a period of six months, including the summer when the ambient temperature is quite high in Greece. An old technology Ford Escort 1.6L, 4 cylinders with indirect injection system was used on a chassis dynamometer. The test car was not equipped with an engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and run on the dynamometer with full load on three different gear settings (second gear, third gear and fourth gear). Seven fuels were used, a high sulfur diesel, and blends of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by weight biodiesel in neat diesel (B10), (B20), (B30), (B40), (B50) and (B100) respectively. Fuel injection timings were held the same for the biodiesel blends and the baseline diesel fuel to eliminate the potential injection timing differences due to the different fuel heating values.

A FTIR in-vehicle on-road emission measurement system was installed in a EURO 2 emissions compliant SI car to investigate exhaust emissions under different urban traffic conditions. The real time fuel consumption and vehicle traveling speed was measured and logged. The temperatures were measured along the exhaust pipe so as to monitor the thermal characteristics and efficiency of the catalyst. Two real world driving cycles were developed with different traffic conditions. One (WP cycle) was located in a quiet area with few traffic interference and the other one (HPL cycle) was in a busy area with more traffic variations. The test car was pre-warmed before each test to eliminate cold start effect. The driving parameters were analyzed for two real world cycles. The WP cycle had higher acceleration rate, longer acceleration mode and shorter steady speed driving mode and thus harsher than the HPL cycle.

Exhaust emissions were measured under real world urban driving conditions using a set of in-vehicle FTIR emission measurement system, which is able to measure 65 emission components simultaneously at a rate of 0.5 Hz. The test vehicle was a EURO 2 emission compliant SI car equipped with real time fuel consumption measurement and temperature measurement along the exhaust pipe across the catalyst allowing the matching of thermal characteristics to emission profiles and monitor fuel consumption. The temperature profile indicated that the light-off of the catalyst took about 150∼200 seconds. The warm up of the lubricating oil and coolant water required a longer time than the catalyst did. The impact of ambient temperatures on lubricating oil and coolant water warm ups was greater than that on the light-off of the catalyst. The heat loss and energy balance were calculated during the whole cycle period. The influence of cold start on fuel consumption was investigated.

Two biofuels were converted chemically to biodiesels: cottonseed oil, which was produced in Macedonia, Greece, and used frying oil which was collected in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The conversion to biodiesels was accomplished in the Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology of the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool, Hoboken, Belgium. Mixtures of the two biodiesels with diesel were prepared as B10, B20, B30, B40, B50 and B100 (B10 means a 10 % by weight of biodiesel). These mixtures were used as fuel on two cars in the Combustion Laboratory in the Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology of the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool, Hoboken, Belgium. The two cars were a VOLVO V70 2.5 L turbo diesel and a FORD TRANSIT 2.5 L diesel. The cars were run under full load at 30, 50, 90 and 120 km/h speeds on a chassis dynamometer.

An in-vehicle FTIR emission measurement system was used to investigate the exhaust emissions under different real world urban driving conditions. Five different driving cycles were developed based on real world urban driving conditions including urban free flow driving, junction maneuver, congested traffic and moderate speed cruising. The test vehicle was a EURO 2 emission compliant SI car equipped with temperature measurement along the exhaust pipe across the catalyst and real time fuel consumption measurement system. Both regulated and non-regulated emissions were measured and analyzed for different driving cycles. All journeys were started from cold. The engine warm up features and emissions as a function of engine warm up for different driving conditions were investigated.

In this study the influence of various blends biodiesel on steady state exhaust emissions was determined using, in terms of technology, two different cars. A first series of tests were conducted in Greece and a second series of tests were conducted in Belgium. An old technology Ford Escort 1986 model, 1.6L, 4 cylinders with indirect injection system engine was used on a chassis dynamometer in Greece [1] and a Volvo V70 2.5L, 2003 model with a modern engine fitted on was tested in Belgium [2]. The Greek test car was not equipped with an engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and run on the dynamometer with full load on three different gear settings (second gear, third gear and fourth gear). The Belgian car was a modern Volvo V70 2.5L Turbo Diesel. Seven fuels were used in both cases, a high sulfur diesel, more than 300 ppm, in Greece, and blends of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by weight biodiesel in neat diesel or (B10), (B20), (B30), (B40), (B50) and (B100) respectively.

EURO 1, 2 3 and 4 SI (Spark Ignition) Ford Mondeo passenger cars were compared for their real world cold start emissions using an on-board FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) exhaust emission measurement system. The FTIR system can measure up to 65 species including both regulated and non-regulated exhaust pollutants at a rate of 0.5 Hz. The driving parameters such as speed, fuel consumption and air/fuel ratio were logged. The coolant water, lube oil and exhaust temperatures were also recorded. A typical urban driving cycle including a loop and a section of straight road was used for the comparison test as it was similar to the legislative ECE15 urban driving cycle. Exhaust emissions were calculated for the whole journey average and compared to EU legislation. The cold start transient emissions were also investigated as a separate parameter and this was where there was the greatest difference between the four vehicles.

New EU environmental law requires 31 ozone precursor VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) to be measured for urban air quality control. In this study, 23 out of the 31 ozone precursor VOCs were measured at a rate of 0.5 HZ by an in-vehicle FTIR (Fourier Transform InfraRed) emission measurement system along with 15 other VOCs. The vehicle used was a EURO2 emission compliant SI car. The test vehicle was driven under real world urban driving conditions on the same route by the same driver on different days at different ambient temperatures. All the journeys were started from cold. The VOC emissions and OFP (Ozone Formation Potential) as a function of engine warm up and ambient temperatures during cold start were investigated. The exhaust temperatures were measured along with the exhaust emissions. The temperature and duration of light off of the catalyst for VOCs was monitored.

Green fuels or alternative fuels are growing fast now days and can be used in every passenger car but also in many commercial vehicles. In various countries all around Europe such as Italy, Netherlands and Belgium LPG is a reasonable alternative fuel for small and medium cars. This study evaluated the performance of a Suzuki Liane fitted with a multipoint in-line gas fuel injection system. During the tests various exhaust gasses (CO, CO2, NOx, O2 and HC) and temperatures were measured in different load condition on a chassis dynamometer. All tests were conducted in the engines laboratory at Karel de Grode Hogeschool (KDG) in Antwerp, Belgium. The car was tested on a chassis dynamometer similar to the one described in [1], [2], [3] and various loads were applied at different gear settings. All measurements were taken under full load and four different gears (2nd gear, 3rd gear, 4th gear and 5th gear) were selected in the gear box.

In this study the influence of various blends biodiesel on steady state exhaust emissions was determined using, in terms of technology, two different cars. A first series of tests were conducted in Greece and a second series of tests were conducted in Belgium. An old technology Ford Escort 86 model, 1.6L, 4 cylinders with indirect injection system engine was used on a chassis dynamometer in Greece and a Volvo V70 2.5L was tested in Belgium. The Ford Escort test car was not equipped with an engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and run on the dynamometer with full load on three different gear settings (second gear, third gear and fourth gear). The Belgian car was a modern Volvo V70 2.5 L Turbo diesel. Seven fuels were used in both cases, a high sulfur diesel in Greece, and blends of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by weight biodiesel in neat diesel or (B10), (B20), (B30), (B40), (B50) and (B100) respectively.

Regulated and non-regulated tailpipe exhaust emissions were measured under real world urban driving conditions using a set of in-vehicle FTIR emission measurement system, which is able to measure 65 emission components simultaneously at a rate of 0.5 Hz. A EURO3 emission compliant SI car was used as a probe vehicle. An urban driving cycle was used for the test and four repeated journeys were conducted. The results were compared to EU emissions legislation. The results show that the TWC needed approximately 200 seconds to reach full conversion efficiency. THC and NOx emissions exceeded the EURO 3 exhaust emission legislation. CO2 emissions were well above the type approval value of this type of the vehicle. Greenhouse gases (methane and nitrous oxide) and toxic hydrocarbons such as benzene were predominantly emitted during cold start period from 0 to 200 seconds of the engine start. The results had a reasonable repeatability for most of the emissions.

The influence of the ignition timing on the exhaust emissions of an old technology vehicle fuelled by various ethanol/petrol mixtures was investigated. All tests were carried out on a 1300cc Ford Escort equipped with a carburettor and without a catalytic converter. The reference petrol fuel E0 and the blends E10, E20 and E50 were used, at three different constant speeds of 30, 50 and 90 km/h, under full load with wide open throttle while the vehicle was on a chassis dynamometer. All measurements were taken at three different settings of the advance angle, at 0°, 4° and 12° BTDC. With the use of an exhaust gas analyser, the concentrations of CO, CO2, HC, O2 and NOX in the exhaust gases at the tailpipe were recorded. For the evaluation of the results the lambda value was calculated from the available recorded data. Changing the ignition timing, while using the blends E10, E20 and E50, had the same effects on the emissions as the reference fuel E0.

The scope of this work was to study the impact of the ignition timing on the engine’s performance on an old technology vehicle fuelled by ethanol/petrol blends. Many previous studies have been published on the subject, but most of them were carried on SI engines using bench dynamometers. In this work, a 1.3 L Ford Escort equipped with a carburettor and without a catalytic converter was tested on a chassis dynamometer. Blends with ethanol concentrations of 10%, 20% and 50% per volume were used and the results were compared with the reference LRP fuel. All tests were performed at three different constant speeds of 30, 50 and 90 km/h, under full load with wide open throttle. Torque and rpm of the engine were recorded by the chassis dynamometer’s software. The fuel consumption was measured by means of the gravimetric method. All measurements were taken at three different settings of the advance angle, at 0°, 4° and 12° BTDC.

This paper describes and analyzes the results of investigations of application of heavy alcohols as an ingredient of diesel fuel. Three different mi xtures of butanol (as heavy alcohol), rape oil (as vegetable oil) and conventional diesel fuel (this mixture was called the biomixdiesel-BMD) were tested using a Perkins engine on a test bed. Contrary to existing experiences both the maximum power output and the maximum torque of the engine were higher in the whole range of the speed of the engine crankshaft when the engine biomixdiesel (BMD) was reinforced. The addition of the component biomix to fuel influenced the specific fuel consumption. Generally, with the larger part of the biomix components the specific fuel consumption were higher. Also the engine power was higher and one should expect that in exploitation the specific fuel consumption should not increase. It is very important that this fuel could be used to reinforce old, already existing and the future diesel engines.

Heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) account for some 5% of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. They present a variety of possible configurations that are deployed depending on the intended use. This variety makes the quantification of their CO2 emissions and fuel consumption difficult. For this reason, the European Commission has adopted a simulation-based approach for the certification of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of HDVs in Europe; the VECTO simulation software has been developed as the official tool for the purpose. The current study investigates the impact of various technologies on the CO2 emissions of European trucks through vehicle simulations performed in VECTO. The chosen vehicles represent average 2015 vehicles and comprised of two rigid trucks (Class 2 and 4) and a tractor-trailer (Class 5), which were simulated under their reference configurations and official driving cycles.

Since 1997 in Belgium, the market share of vehicles equipped with diesel engine has grown up from 50% to nearly 80%. Most of the drivers are using diesel cars for private or company purposes and gasoline powered engine vehicles sales dropped dramatically since then. This evolution is clearly a game-changer regarding the type of regulated emissions we can find as dominant. Tests and analysis for this work focused on diesel passenger cars and one of the main drivers for that was the great demand of new cars fitted with exhaust aftertreatment devices (DPF, DOC, LBC etc.). In this paper the performance of soot filters were measured and presented, based not on the NEDC but on the heavy duty 13-Mode test cycle which emphasize mainly at low-speed driving conditions, such as all passenger cars are running currently, and is also characterized by low average engine loads and low exhaust temperatures.

Different driving test cycles, the Leeds-West Park (LWP) loop and the Leeds-High Park (LHP) or HPL-A and B (Leeds-Hyde Park Loop-A or B, hereafter referred as HPL-A or B cycle) loop were selected for this urban intersection research and results are presented in this study. Different emissions-compliant petrol passenger cars (EURO 1, 2, 3 and 4) were compared for their real-world emissions. A reasonable distance of steady state speed was needed and for the analysis made in this paper were chosen vehicle speeds at ~20, ~30 and ~40 km/h. Specific spot of periods of driving at the speeds mentioned above were identified, then the starting and ending point was found and the total emissions in g for that period divided by the distance was calculated. A typical urban driving cycle including a loop and a section of straight road was used for the comparison test as it was similar to the legislative ECE15 urban driving cycle.

More than 600 passenger cars were measured during winter and spring at the end of 2012 beginning 2013 in Antwerp Belgium in order to determine the effect of mileage and year of first registration on smoke emissions or smoke opacity from diesel light duty vehicles. All measurements were contacted in two different campuses of the University of Antwerp and under different ambient conditions. Various parameters such as ambient temperature, ambient humidity, car age, number of passengers in each cars, time of measurement etc. were taken into account and presented in this paper. All findings from these set of measurements were split into two big categories, those cars with less than 150,000km on the clock and the second one with those cars with higher number of mileage. The effect of ambient temperature but also the mileage on smoke opacity will be presented and discussed in more details.