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This study was aimed at experimentally investigating the impact of diesel/natural gas (NG) dual-fuel retrofitting onto gaseous emissions emitted by i) legacy, model year (MY) 2005 heavy-duty engines with cooled EGR and no after-treatment system, and ii) a latest technology engine equipped with DPF and urea-SCR after-treatment systems that is compliant with 2010 US-EPA emissions standards. In particular, two different dual-fuel conversion kits were evaluated in this study with pure methane (CH4) being used as surrogate for natural gas. Experiments were conducted on an engine dynamometer over a 13-mode steady-state test cycle as well as the transient FTP required for engine certification while gaseous emissions were sampled through a CVS system. Tailpipe NOx emissions were observed at a comparable level for diesel and diesel/CH4 dual-fuel operation for the 2010 compliant engine downstream the SCR.

Recent free piston engine research reported in the literature has included development efforts for single and dual cylinder devices through both simulation and prototype operation. A single cylinder, spring opposed, oscillating linear engine and alternator (OLEA) is a suitable architecture for application as a steady state generator. Such a device could be tuned and optimized for peak efficiency and nominal power at unthrottled operation. One of the significant challenges facing researchers is startup of the engine. It could be achieved by operating the alternator in a motoring mode according to the natural system resonant frequency, effectively bouncing the translator between the spring and cylinder, increasing stroke until sufficient compression is reached to allow introduction of fuel and initiation of combustion. To study the natural resonance of the OLEA, a numeric model has been built to simulate multiple cycles of operation.

The free piston linear engine has the potential to achieve high efficiency and might serve as a viable platform for robust implementation of low temperature combustion schemes (such as homogeneous charge compression ignition - HCCI) due to its ability to vary compression and stroke in response to cylinder and load events. A major challenge is control of the translator motion. Lack of geometric constraint on the piston leads to uncertainty about its top dead center position and timing. While combustion control depends on knowledge of the piston motion, the combustion event also affects the motion profile of the piston. To advance understanding of this coupled system, a numeric model was developed to simulate multiple cycles of a dual cylinder, spring assisted, 2-stroke HCCI, free piston linear engine generator.

Three-way catalyst equipped stoichiometric natural gas vehicles have proven to be an effective alternative fuel strategy that has shown superior low NOx benefits in comparison to diesels equipped with SCR. However, recent studies have shown the TWC activity to contribute to high levels of tailpipe ammonia emissions. Although a non-regulated pollutant, ammonia is a potent pre-cursor to ambient secondary PM formation. Ammonia (NH3) is an inevitable catalytic byproduct of TWCduring that results also corresponds to lowest NOx emissions. The main objective of the study is to develop a passive SCR based NH3 reduction strategy that results in an overall reduction of NH3 as well as NOx emissions from a stoichiometric spark ignited natural gas engine. The study investigated the characteristics of Fe-based and Cu-based zeolite SCR catalysts in storage, and desorption of ammonia at high exhaust temperature conditions, that are typical of stoichiometric natural gas engines.

The development of a mathematical model of StillerSmith Mechanism for the application of a 4-cylinder plunger pump system is presented. The magnitude and direction of the internal dynamic load are obtained by solving a set of equations using the overall geometric parameters, prescribed motions, inertia distribution, and applied torques on the system. The simulation presented here yields the history of the internal loads, which are then normalized with respect to the required peak output load on the plungers, through an entire rotary cycle. The approach allows for the development of further design criteria through parametric sensitivity studies.

Natural Gas engines are viewed as an alternative to diesel power in the quest to reduce heavy duty vehicle emissions in polluted urban areas. In particular, it is acknowledged that natural gas has the potential to reduce the inventory of particulate matter, and this has encouraged the use of natural gas engines in transit bus applications. Extensive data on natural gas and diesel bus emissions have been gathered using two Transportable Heavy Duty Vehicle Emissions Testing Laboratories, that employ chassis dynamometers to simulate bus inertia and road load. Most of the natural gas buses tested prior to 1997 were powered by Cummins L-10 engines, which were lean-burn and employed a mechanical mixer for fuel introduction. The Central Business District (CBD) cycle was used as the test schedule.

The fuel cell bus program at Georgetown University (GU) has directed the operational development and testing of three hybrid fuel cell powered buses for transit operation. These are the world's first liquid-fueled, fuel cell powered road vehicles. This paper describes the emissions testing of one of these buses on a heavy duty chassis dynamometer at West Virginia University (WVU). The tested bus was driven by a 120 kW DC motor and utilized a 50 kW phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) as an energy source with a 100 kW battery for supplemental power. A methanol/water fuel mixture was converted by a steam reformer to a hydrogen rich gas mixture for use in a fuel cell stack. Emissions from the reformer, fuel cell stack and startup burner were monitored for both transient and steady-state operation.

Recreational marine engine operation effects water quality as well as air quality. Significant quantities of hydrocarbons are discharged into the rivers, lakes, and estuaries used as recreational boating waters. In order to investigate the impact of recreational marine engine operation on water quality, a MerCruiser 3.0LX four-cylinder four-stroke inboard engine and a Mercury 650 two-cylinder two-stroke outboard engine were tested using EPA required certification procedures. Both engines were tested with exhaust gas/cooling water mixing (scrubbing) in the exhaust stream using both freshwater and saltwater. Additionally, the inboard engine was tested without exhaust scrubbing. Gaseous emissions (HC, NOX, CO, and CO2) from the engines were continuously measured using a constant volume sampling system. Both exhaust gas and cooling water samples were collected and speciated for hydrocarbon species present.

Until a proper fueling infrastructure is established, vehicles powered by natural gas must have bi-fuel capability in order to avoid a limited vehicle range. Although bi-fuel conversions of existing gasoline engines have existed for a number of years, these engines do not fully exploit the combustion and knock properties of both fuels. Much of the power loss resulting from operation of an existing gasoline engine on compressed natural gas (CNG) can be recovered by increasing the compression ratio, thereby exploiting the high knock resistance of natural gas. However, gasoline operation at elevated compression ratios results in severe engine knock. The use of variable intake valve timing in conjunction with ignition timing modulation and electronically controlled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was investigated as a means of controlling knock when operating a bi-fuel engine on gasoline at elevated compression ratios.

Heavy-Duty Diesel (HDD) engines' particulate matter (PM) emissions are most often measured quantitatively by weighing filters that collect diluted exhaust samples pre- and post-test. PM sampling systems that dilute exhaust gas and collect PM samples have different effects on measured PM data. Those effects usually contribute to inter-laboratory variance. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s 2007 PM emission measurement regulations for the test of HDD engines should reduce variability, but must also cope with PM mass that is an order of magnitude lower than legacy engine testing. To support the design of a 2007 US standard HDD PM emission sampling system, a parametric study based on a systematic Simulink® model was performed. This model acted as an auxiliary design tool when setting up a new 2007 HDD PM emission sampling system in a heavy-duty test cell at West Virginia University (WVU). It was also designed to provide assistance in post-test data processing.

West Virginia University has conducted research to characterize the emissions from medium-duty vehicles operating on Fischer-Tropsch synthetic gas-to-liquid compression ignition fuel. The West Virginia University Transportable Heavy Vehicle Emissions Testing Laboratory was used to collect data for gaseous emissions (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and total hydrocarbon) while the vehicles were exercised through a representative driving schedule, the New York City Bus Cycle (NYCB). Artificial neural networks were used to model emissions to enhance the capabilities of computer-based vehicle operation simulators. This modeling process is presented in this paper. Vehicle velocity, acceleration, torque at rear axel, and exhaust temperature were used as inputs to the neural networks. For each of the four gaseous emissions considered, one set of training data and one set of validating data were used, both based on the New York City Bus Cycle.

Dedicated natural gas engines suffer the disadvantages of limited vehicle range and relatively few refueling stations. A vehicle capable of operating on either gasoline or natural gas allows alternative fuel usage without sacrificing vehicle range and mobility. However, the bi-fuel engine must be made to provide equal performance on both fuels. Although bi-fuel conversions have existed for a number of years, historically natural gas performance is degraded relative to gasoline due to reduced volumetric efficiency and lower power density of CNG. Much of the performance losses associated with CNG can be overcome by increasing the compression ratio. However, in a bi-fuel application, high compression ratios can result in severe engine knock during gasoline operation. Variable intake valve timing, increased exhaust gas recirculation and retarded ignition timing were explored as a means of controlling knock during gasoline operation of a bi-fuel engine.

The Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) catalytic conversion process can be used to synthesize diesel fuels from a variety of feedstocks, including coal, natural gas and biomass. Synthetic diesel fuels can have very low sulfur and aromatic content, and excellent autoignition characteristics. Moreover, Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuels may also be economically competitive with California diesel fuel if produced in large volumes. An overview of Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel production and engine emissions testing is presented. Previous engine laboratory tests indicate that F-T diesel is a promising alternative fuel because it can be used in unmodified diesel engines, and substantial exhaust emissions reductions can be realized. The authors have performed preliminary tests to assess the real-world performance of F-T diesel fuels in heavy-duty trucks. Seven White-GMC Class 8 trucks equipped with Caterpillar 10.3 liter engines were tested using F-T diesel fuel.

New York City Department of Sanitation has operated natural gas fueled refuse haulers in a pilot study: a major goal of this study was to compare the emissions from these natural gas vehicles with their diesel counterparts. The vehicles were tandem axle trucks with GVW (gross vehicle weight) rating of 69,897 pounds. The primary use of these vehicles was for street collection and transporting the collected refuse to a landfill. West Virginia University Transportable Heavy Duty Emissions Testing Laboratories have been engaged in monitoring the tailpipe emissions from these trucks for seven-years. In the later years of testing the hydrocarbons were speciated for non-methane and methane components. Six of these vehicles employed the older technology (mechanical mixer) Cummins L-10 lean burn natural gas engines.

Linear, crankless, internal combustion engines may find application in the generation of electrical power without the need to convert linear to rotary motion. The elimination of the connecting rod and crankshaft would significantly improve the efficiency of the engine and the reduced weight and cost is an added advantage. The case of two opposed cylinders, with two pistons linked by a solid rod, was considered for idealized modeling. The piston/rod assembly was considered to oscillate with only constant frictional drag. The Otto cycle was used to model efficiency, and this in turn determined compression ratio. Dimensionless groups governing the engine working were identified and used in formulating a description of the engine behavior. Two-stroke operation was assumed. Velocity and position can be related analytically to yield a phase plot.

Heavy duty engine emissions represent a significant portion of the mobile source emissions inventory, especially with respect to oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. West Virginia University (WVU) has developed an extensive database of continuous transient gaseous emission levels from a wide range of heavy duty diesel vehicles in field operation. This database was built using the WVU Transportable Heavy Duty Vehicle Emission Testing Laboratories. Transient driving cycles used to generate the continuous data were the Central Business District cycle (CBD), 5-peak WVU test cycle, WVU 5-mile route, and the New York City Bus cycle (NYCB). This paper discusses continuous emissions data from a transit bus and a tractor truck, each of them powered by a Detroit Diesel 6V-92 engine. Simple correlational models were developed to relate instantaneous emissions to instantaneous power at the drivewheels.

Dual primary full-flow dilution tunnels represent an integral part of a heavy-duty transportable emissions measurement laboratory designed and constructed to comply with US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 40 Part 1065 requirements. Few data exist to characterize the evolution of particulate matter (PM) in full scale dilution tunnels, particularly at very low PM mass levels. Size distributions of ultra-fine particles in diesel exhaust from a naturally aspirated, 2.4 liter, 40 kW ISUZU C240 diesel engine equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) were studied in one set of standard primary and secondary dilution tunnels with varied dilution ratios. Particle size distribution data, during steady-state engine operation, were collected using a Cambustion DMS500 Fast Particulate Spectrometer. Measurements were made at four positions that spanned the tunnel cross section after the mixing orifice plate for the primary dilution tunnel and at the outlet of the secondary dilution tunnel.

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) developed a Medium Heavy-Duty Truck (MHDT) schedule by selecting and joining microtrips from real-world MHDT. The MHDT consisted of three modes; namely, a Lower Speed Transient, a Higher Speed Transient, and a Cruise mode. The maximum speeds of these modes were 28.9, 58.2 and 66.0 mph, respectively. Each mode represented statistically selected truck behavior patterns in California. The MHDT is intended to be applied to emissions characterization of trucks (14,001 to 33,000lb gross vehicle weight) exercised on a chassis dynamometer. This paper presents the creation of the MHDT and an examination of repeatability of emissions data from MHDT driven through this schedule. Two trucks were procured to acquire data using the MHDT schedule. The first, a GMC truck with an 8.2-liter Isuzu engine and a standard transmission, was tested at laden weight (90% GVW, 17,550lb) and at unladen weight (50% GVW, 9,750lb).

West Virginia University evaluated diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) and lean-NOX catalysts as part of Diesel Emissions Control-Sulfur Effects (DECSE) project. In order to perform thermal aging of the DOC and lean-NOX catalysts simultaneously and economically, each catalyst was sized to accommodate half of the engine exhaust flow. Simultaneous catalyst aging was then achieved by splitting the engine exhaust into two streams such that approximately half of the total exhaust flowed through the DOC and half through the lean-NOX catalyst. This necessitated splitting the engine exhaust into two streams during emissions measurements. Throttling valves installed in each branch of the split exhaust were adjusted so that approximately half the engine exhaust passed though the active catalyst under evaluation and into a full flow dilution tunnel for emissions measurement.

Emissions tests for heavy -duty diesel-fueled engines and vehicles are normally performed using engine dynamometers and chassis dynamometers, respectively, with laboratory grade gaseous concentration measurement analyzers and supporting test equipment. However, a considerable effort has been recently expended on developing in-use, on-board tools to measure brake-specific emissions from heavy -duty vehicles with the highest degree of accuracy and precision. This alternative testing methodology would supplement the emissions data that is collected from engine and chassis dynamometer tests. The on-board emissions testing methodology entails actively recording emissions and vehicle operating parameters (engine speed and load, vehicle speed etc.) from vehicles while they are operating on the road. This paper focuses on in-use measurements of NOX with zirconium oxide sensors and other portable NOX detectors.