Overview
The governments of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom agreed to a collaborative programme aimed at developing analytical systems by which ultrafine soot particles could be measured to facilitate control in a regulatory framework. The eventual outcome would be a system, or systems, that would replace or complement the existing method of particulate mass measurement by introducing a method of particle number measurement. This work has been taken forward in the UN-ECE forum where the government of Switzerland joined the consortium. Japanese and Korean governments are also contributing to the project.
The Particle Measurement Programme (PMP) working group, chaired by the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport, developed a three-phased approach to complete this work. For Phase 3 the technical lead has been taken over by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) in Ispra (I).
In Phase 3, second stage, the so-called heavy-duty inter-laboratory correlation exercise (ILCE-HD) has been started at the end of June 2007. The Swiss contribution consists of a three week measurement programme, scheduled for spring 2008, on a heavy-duty truck engine at EMPA laboratories in Dübendorf.
The focus of the PMP-project under the auspices of the UN-ECE GRPE is on the development of a new approach to the measurement of soot particles in vehicle exhaust emissions, which may be used to replace or to compliment the existing particulate mass measurement prescriptions by introducing particulate number measurement prescriptions in EC directives.
The intention of the EMPA project is to contribute to the international PMP activity by joining the heavy-duty inter-laboratory correlation exercise to evaluate the new measurement methods.
It is intended to implement the outcome of the ILCE-HD in the EC directive dealing with the EURO VI emission prescriptions for heavy-duty vehicles. Following steps will be provided:
1. Sampling via Partial Flow Dilution System
2. Sampling system for particle number measurement
3. Sampling system for modified particle mass measurement
Funding
Results
The Heavy Duty Inter-Laboratory Correlation Exercise has conducted testing at 5 test laboratories in the Europe in order to demonstrate the practicality, robustness, repeatability and reproducibility of the particle emissions measurement techniques proposed by the Particle Measurement Programme
(PMP).
The exercise involved testing a Golden Engine (a Euro III Iveco Cursor 8, equipped with a wall-flow Diesel Particulate Filter), at all participating laboratories to allow the inter-laboratory reproducibility of measurements to be assessed. Each laboratory tested the engine over multiple repeats of the heavy duty World Harmonised Transient Cycle (both cold and hot start) and World Harmonised Steady state Cycle (WHSC) as well as current EU regulatory cycles the European Transient Cycle (ETC) and European Steady state Cycle (ESC).
Measurements of solid particle number emissions, particulate mass and regulated gaseous emissions were taken over each test. Particle emissions measurements were taken from both full flow (CVS) and partial flow (PFDS) dilution systems at each laboratory. Two ‘Golden’ particle number measurement systems were circulated between the test laboratories, one for use in CVS
measurements one for use in PFDS measurements. In addition laboratories made particle number measurements using several alternative, PMP type systems to compare the performance of different measurement systems. The Golden Measurement systems performed reliably at all laboratories and agreed with one another to within 5% when making measurements in parallel.
Innovation aspects
The practicality, robustness, repeatability and reproducibility of the particle emissions measurement techniques proposed by the Particle Measurement Programme was demonstrated.
Policy implications
The new measurement techniques coming out of Particle Measurement Programme enable to follow the effectiveness of measures applied by reducing influence of transport on environment.