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The influence of fuel aromatics type on the particulate matter (PM) and NOx exhaust emissions of a heavy-duty, single-cylinder, DI diesel engine was investigated. Eight fuels were blended from conventional and oil sands crude oil sources to form five fuel pairs with similar densities but with different poly-aromatic (1.6 to 14.6%) or total aromatic (14.3 to 39.0%) levels. The engine was tuned to meet the U.S. EPA 1994 emission standards. An eight-mode, steady-state simulation of the U.S. EPA heavy-duty transient test procedure was followed. The experimental results show that there were no statistically significant differences in the PM and NOx emissions of the five fuel pairs after removing the fuel sulphur content effect on PM emissions. However, there was a definite trend towards higher NOx emissions as the fuel density, poly-aromatic and total aromatic levels of the test fuels increased.

For renewable fuels to displace petroleum, they must be compatible with emissions control devices. Pure biodiesel contains up to 5 ppm Na + K and 5 ppm Ca + Mg metals, which have the potential to degrade diesel emissions control systems. This study aims to address these concerns, identify deactivation mechanisms, and determine if a lower limit is needed. Accelerated aging of a production exhaust system was conducted on an engine test stand over 1001 h using 20% biodiesel blended into ultra-low sulfur diesel (B20) doped with 14 ppm Na. This Na level is equivalent to exposure to Na at the uppermost expected B100 value in a B20 blend for the system full-useful life. During the study, NOx emissions exceeded the engine certification limit of 0.33 g/bhp-hr before the 435,000-mile requirement.

The objective of this research project was to compare the emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from transit buses on as many as five different fuels and three standard transit duty cycles to establish if there is a real-world biodiesel NOx increase for transit bus duty cycles and engine calibrations. Prior studies have shown that B20 can cause a small but significant increase in NOx emissions for some engines and duty cycles. Six buses spanning engine build years 1998 to 2011 were tested on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Renewable Fuels and Lubricants research laboratory's heavy-duty chassis dynamometer with certification diesel, certification B20 blend, low aromatic [California Air Resources Board (CARB)] diesel, low aromatic B20 blend, and B100 fuels over the Manhattan, Orange County and UDDS test cycles.