Regulated and unregulated emissions from modern 2010 emissions-compliant heavy-duty on-highway diesel engines

J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2015 Aug;65(8):987-1001. doi: 10.1080/10962247.2015.1051606.

Abstract

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established strict regulations for highway diesel engine exhaust emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) to aid in meeting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The emission standards were phased in with stringent standards for 2007 model year (MY) heavy-duty engines (HDEs), and even more stringent NOX standards for 2010 and later model years. The Health Effects Institute, in cooperation with the Coordinating Research Council, funded by government and the private sector, designed and conducted a research program, the Advanced Collaborative Emission Study (ACES), with multiple objectives, including detailed characterization of the emissions from both 2007- and 2010-compliant engines. The results from emission testing of 2007-compliant engines have already been reported in a previous publication. This paper reports the emissions testing results for three heavy-duty 2010-compliant engines intended for on-highway use. These engines were equipped with an exhaust diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), high-efficiency catalyzed diesel particle filter (DPF), urea-based selective catalytic reduction catalyst (SCR), and ammonia slip catalyst (AMOX), and were fueled with ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel (~6.5 ppm sulfur). Average regulated and unregulated emissions of more than 780 chemical species were characterized in engine exhaust under transient engine operation using the Federal Test Procedure cycle and a 16-hr duty cycle representing a wide dynamic range of real-world engine operation. The 2010 engines' regulated emissions of PM, NOX, nonmethane hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide were all well below the EPA 2010 emission standards. Moreover, the unregulated emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitroPAHs, hopanes and steranes, alcohols and organic acids, alkanes, carbonyls, dioxins and furans, inorganic ions, metals and elements, elemental carbon, and particle number were substantially (90 to >99%) lower than pre-2007-technology engine emissions, and also substantially (46 to >99%) lower than the 2007-technology engine emissions characterized in the previous study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollution / analysis*
  • Air Pollution / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Gases / chemistry
  • Gasoline / standards
  • Particle Size
  • Particulate Matter / chemistry*
  • United States
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Vehicle Emissions*

Substances

  • Gases
  • Gasoline
  • Particulate Matter
  • Vehicle Emissions

Grants and funding

Preparation of this paper was funded by the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association. We gratefully acknowledge the comments of Roger O. McClellan, an independent consultant to the EMA. The interpretations of the data and the conclusions drawn are those of the authors and may not necessarily be those of the sponsors of the research, the manufacturers of the engines or the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association or their representatives.