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The effective use of a catalyst to initiate regeneration of a diesel particulate trap has traditionally been based on the concept that the catalyst coated onto the trap adsorbs particulate, and activates oxygen in the exhaust causing initiation of particulate combustion. Reported regeneration temperatures generally lie in the range of 350°C and above. This paper reports on a new mechanism of diesel particulate combustion involving activation of oxygen over a catalyst to form NO2, which is then capable of adsorbing on diesel particulate trapped in a filter and initiating combustion at lower temperatures. Diesel particulate has been combusted on a wire mesh trap at temperatures as low as 265°C, and this regeneration capability has been maintained over hundreds of hours of operation. However, the most active catalysts for low temperature activation of diesel particulate are also high sulfate producers.

This paper describes the results of Phase 1 of the Diesel Emission Control - Sulfur Effects (DECSE) Program. The objective of the program is to determine the impact of fuel sulfur levels on emissions control systems that could be used to lower emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) from vehicles with diesel engines. The DECSE program has now issued four interim reports for its first phase, with conclusions about the effect of diesel sulfur level on PM and total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions from the high-temperature lean-NOx catalyst, the increase of engine-out sulfate emissions with higher sulfur fuel levels, the effect of sulfur content on NOx adsorber conversion efficiencies, and the effect of fuel sulfur content on diesel oxidation catalysts, causing increased PM emissions above engine-out emissions under certain operating conditions.

The first round of Federal Test Procedure (FTP) emissions testing of variable-fuel ethanol vehicles from the U.S. Federal fleet was recently completed. The vehicles tested include 21 variable-fuel E85 1992 and 1993 Chevrolet Lumina sedans and an equal number of standard gasoline Luminas. Results presented include a comparison of regulated exhaust and evaporative emissions and a discussion of the levels of air toxics, as well as the calculated ozone-forming potential of the measured emissions. Two private emissions laboratories tested vehicles taken from the general population of Federal fleet vehicles in the Washington, D.C., and Chicago metropolitan regions. Testing followed the standard U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's FTP and detailed fuel changeover procedures as developed in the Auto/Oil Air Quality Improvement Research Program.

The first round of emissions testing of flexible fuel methanol vehicles from the U.S. federal fleet was completed in 1995. The vehicles tested include 71 flexible fuel M85 1993 Dodge Spirits, 16 flexible fuel 1994 M85 Ford Econoline Vans, and a similar number of standard gasoline Dodge Spirits and E150 Ford Econoline Vans. Results presented include a comparison of regulated exhaust and evaporative emissions and a discussion of the levels of air toxins, and the ozone-forming potential (OFP) of the measured emissions. Three private emissions laboratories tested vehicles taken from the general population of federal fleet vehicles in the Washington D.C., New York City, Detroit, Chicago, and Denver metropolitan regions. Testing followed the standard U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Federal Test Procedures (FTPs) and detailed fuel changeover procedures as developed in the Auto/Oil Air Quality Improvement Research Program.

Proposals to further lower particulate matter standards for heavy duty diesel powered vehicles throughout the world, have prompted further interest in particulate filter based aftertreatment solutions. Continuously regenerating traps have been utilised in Europe as a retrofit technology for more than 6 years and this study summarises that experience. Predominantly the growth in the market for the continuously regenerating trap has been in those countries which have promoted the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel (i.e. less than 50 ppm S) - Sweden, Germany, and the UK, and to a lesser extent in another seven countries. A selection of continuously regenerating traps was taken from the field after high road mileage accumulation, up to 600,000 km, and subsequently tested for performance on diesel engine bench dynamometers; the results of these studies are reported and discussed.

This paper reports the test results from the DPF (diesel particulate filter) portion of the DECSE (Diesel Emission Control - Sulfur Effects) Phase 1 test program. The DECSE program is a joint government and industry program to study the impact of diesel fuel sulfur level on aftertreatment devices. A systematic investigation was conducted to study the effects of diesel fuel sulfur level on (1) the emissions performance and (2) the regeneration behavior of a continuously regenerating diesel particulate filter and a catalyzed diesel particulate filter. The tests were conducted on a Caterpillar 3126 engine with nominal fuel sulfur levels of 3 parts per million (ppm), 30 ppm, 150 ppm and 350 ppm.

Tins report describes the experimental procedure used to evaluate the effect of selected fuel components (butane, propane and propene) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on both regulated and speciated exhaust emissions. A total of seven LPG fuels were tested on three different vehicles. FTP-75 emission tests were conducted on each fuel blend for all three vehicles. Full hydrocarbon and carbonyl speciation were included for at least one test on each fuel. In general, fuel composition effects on post catalyst emissions were overwhelmed by vehicle to vehicle differences. There was no clear indication that one fuel showed best emissions in all vehicles. Results also suggest some dependence upon initial LPG fuel system calibration. Data presented here may lend itself to further statistical analysis which is beyond the scope of this paper. These mixed results suggest that more research is needed to provide greater insight on the effect of LPG fuel components on vehicle emissions.

The tightening NOx and particulate matter (PM) emission standards for heavy duty diesel powered vehicles are stimulating the development of aftertreatment systems to reduce NOx and PM emissions from such vehicles. Here we present data on a new system which combines NO2-based continuously regenerative trap particulate removal technology with urea-based Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) NOx removal technology. There are a number of beneficial synergistic effects associated with combining these two technologies, including a significant improvement in the low temperature NOx removal performance of the SCR system. The development of this PM/NOx control system is described, and the main features of this novel strategy are outlined. The PM/NOx control system has been evaluated on a number of different engines and over a number of different drive cycles.