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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.

A series of chassis dynamometer test trials were conducted to assess the performance of a Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) system developed for on-road vehicle exhaust emissions measurements. Trials used a EURO 1 emission compliant SI passenger car which, alongside the FTIR, was instrumented to allow the routine logging of engine speed, road speed, throttle position, air-fuel ratio, air flow and fuel flow in addition to engine, exhaust and catalyst temperatures. The chassis dynamometer facility incorporated an ‘industry standard’ measurement system comprising MEXA7400 gas analyzer and CVS bag sampling which was the ‘benchmark’ for the evaluation of FTIR legislated gas-phase emissions (CO, NOx, THC and CO2) measurements. Initial steady state measurements demonstrated strong correlations for CO, NOx and THC (R2 of 0.99, 0.97 0.99, respectively) and a good correlation for CO2 (R2 = 0.92).

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.

A precision in-vehicle tail-pipe emission measurement system was installed in a EURO1 emissions compliant SI car and used to investigate the variability in tail-pipe emission generation at an urban traffic junction and uphill/downhill road, and thereby the impact of road topography on emissions. Exhaust gas and skin temperatures were also measured along the exhaust pipe of the instrumented vehicle, so the thermal characteristics and the efficiency of the catalyst could be monitored. Different turning movements (driving events) at the priority T-junction were investigated such as straight, left and right turns with and without stops. The test car was run until hot stable operating conditions were achieved before each test, thereby negating cold start effects.

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.

A Euro 2 SI (Spark Ignition) Mondeo was investigated for a fully warmed-up vehicle on a simple urban driving loop. Emissions were monitored using an on-board Horiba OBS (On-Board emission measurement System) 1300. 10 laps of a 0.6 km loop were driven by each driver and this involved 4 junctions per lap. Statistical analysis of 20 drivers was made over 27 repeat junction events for each driver. The statistical analysis of the data showed that for all drivers the CO₂, speed and throttle position were more typical Gaussian in their distribution. NOx and CO on the other hand were lognormal in their distribution. Acceleration, positive and negative throttle jerks (rate of change of throttle angle) were borderline Gaussian. HC (Hydrocarbon) emissions were not Gaussian and there was some evidence for a gamma distribution and for a lognormal distribution. Comparison of mean HC emissions between the drivers was therefore not reliable.

A precision in-vehicle tail-pipe emission measurement system was installed in a EURO1 emissions compliant SI car and used to investigate the variability in tail-pipe emission generation at an urban traffic junction. Exhaust gas and skin temperatures were also measured along the exhaust pipe of the instrumented vehicle, so the thermal characteristics and the efficiency of the catalyst monitored could be included in the analysis. Different turning movements (driving patterns) at the priority T-junction were investigated such as straight, left and right turns with and without stops. The test car was hot stable running conditions before each test, thereby negating cold start effects. To demonstrate the influence of the junction on tail-pipe emissions and fuel consumption, distance based factors were determined that compared the intersection drive-through measurements with steady speed (state) runs. Fuel consumption was increased at intersections by a factor of 1.3∼5.9.

The influence of ambient temperature on exhaust emissions for an instrumented Euro 1 SI car was determined. A real world test cycle was used, based on an urban drive cycle that was similar to the ECE urban drive cycle. It was based on four laps of a street circuit and an emissions sample bag was taken for each lap. The bag for the first lap was for the cold start emissions. An in-vehicle direct exhaust dual bag sampling technique was used to simultaneously collect exhaust samples upstream and downstream of the three-way catalyst (TWC). The cold start tests were conducted over a year, with ambient temperatures ranging from - 2°C to 32°C. The exhaust system was instrumented with thermocouples so that the catalyst light off temperature could be determined. The results showed that CO emissions for the cold start were reduced by a factor of 8 downstream of catalyst when ambient temperature rose from -2°C to 32°C, the corresponding hydrocarbon emissions were reduced by a factor of 4.

The influence of ambient temperature on exhaust emissions for an instrumented Euro 1 SI car was determined for urban congested traffic conditions. In UK cities cold-starting vehicles directly into congested traffic conditions is a common occurrence that is not currently taken into account when modeling urban traffic pollution. In-vehicle emission samples were taken directly from the exhaust, upstream and downstream of the catalyst, using the bag sampling technique. The first bag was for the cold start emissions and approximately the first 1.1 km of travel. The following three bags were with a hotter catalyst. The cold start tests were conducted over a year, with ambient temperatures ranging from 2°C to 30°C. The results showed that CO emissions for the cold start were reduced by 70% downstream of the catalyst when the ambient temperature rose from 2°C to 30°C. The corresponding hydrocarbon emissions were reduced by 41% and NOx emissions were increased by 90%.

The objective of this work was to determine the effect of one form of traffic calming on emissions. Traffic calming is aimed at reducing average vehicle speeds, especially in residential neighborhoods, often using physical road obstructions such as speed bumps, but it also results in a higher number of acceleration/deceleration events which in turn yield higher emissions. Testing was undertaken by driving a warmed-up Euro-1 spark ignition passenger car over a set of speed bumps on a level road, and then comparing the emissions output to a non-calmed level road negotiated smoothly at a similar average speed. For the emissions measurements, a novel method was utilized, whereby the vehicle was fitted with a portable Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, capable of measuring up to 51 different components in real-time on the road. The results showed that increases in emissions were much greater than was previously reported by other researchers using different techniques.