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Air quality improvement, especially in urban areas, is one of the major concerns for the coming years. For this reason, car manufacturers, equipment manufacturers and refiners have been exploring development avenues to comply with increasingly severe anti-pollution requirements. In such a context, the identification of the most promising improvement options is essential. A research program, carried out by IFP (Institut Français du Pétrole), and supported by FSH (Fonds de Soutien aux Hydrocarbures), IFP, PSA-Peugeot-Citroën, Renault and Renault VI (Véhicules Industriels), has been built to study this point. It is a four years programme with different steps which will focus on new engine technologies: some of them are going to be marketed very soon (gasoline direct injection car engine, and diesel common rail injection car and truck engines) to anticipate the Euro 3 (2000) and the Euro 4 (2005) emissions specifications. The original work reported here is part of this research.

In order to asses the durability of DPF, a study has been performed in order to study the evolution of several taxis (Peugeot 607) and the performance of this after-treatment systems over 80,000 km mileage in hard urban driving conditions, which corresponds to the recommended mileage before the first DPF maintenance (this periodicity is applied on the first generation of DPF technology launched in 2000). More specifically, the following evaluations are being performed at regular intervals (around 20 000 km): Regulated gaseous pollutant emissions on NEDC cycle (New European Driving Cycle) Particulate emissions, by mass measurement on NEDC but also by particle number and size measurement with SMPS (Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer) technique on NEDC and on unconventional steady-state running points.

The use of Diesel engines has strongly increased during the last years and now represents 30% of the sales in Europe and up to 50% of the number of cars in circulation for some countries. This success is linked not only to the economical aspect of the use of such vehicles, but also to the recent technological improvements of these engines. The new technical solutions (high pressure direct injection, turbocharging…) have indeed allowed the increase of these engine performances while decreasing their fuel consumption, pollutant emissions and noise level. From an environmental point of view, Diesel engines are nevertheless penalized by their particulate and NOx emissions. The study and the treatment of the particulate, highly criticized for their potential impact on health, are the subject of numerous works of characterization and developments. PSA Peugeot-Citroën has recently launched its particulate filter technology on several types of vehicles.