Effects of Fuel Quality and Diesel Engine Techonology on Particle Emissions 2001-24-0069

The total particulate emissions, particle mass and number/size distributions of two modern diesel vehicles, were measured during the ECE15+EUDC test cycle and constant speed tests at idle, 32, 50 and 120 km/h. One car was equipped with a standard direct injection rotary pump while the other was equipped with the common-rail technology. The emissions were tested with the cars running on a “standard” and on a “clean” sulphur-free, low aromatics and low density diesel fuel. It was seen that the common rail engine was emitting significantly less particle mass than the standard direct injection engine. The use of the clean fuel improved all emission but the CO₂ and NO_x. Finally, the use of Low-Pressure Impactors and of a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer resulted in valuable information on the size distribution of particles emitted by the vehicles.