Real-world NOx emissions from heavy-duty diesel, natural gas, and diesel hybrid electric vehicles of different vocations on California roadways

Cavan McCaffery; Hanwei Zhu; Tianbo Tang; Chengguo Li; Georgios Karavalakis; Sam Cao; Adewale Oshinuga; Andrew Burnette; Kent C Johnson; Thomas D Durbin

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147224

Real-world NOx emissions from heavy-duty diesel, natural gas, and diesel hybrid electric vehicles of different vocations on California roadways

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Aug 25:784:147224. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147224. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ University of California, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507, USA.
² University of California, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
³ University of California, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. Electronic address: gkaraval@cert.ucr.edu.
⁴ South Coast Air Quality Management District, 21865 Copley Dr, Diamond Bar, CA 91765, USA.
⁵ infoWedge, 4903 Alondra Ct, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762, USA.
⁶ University of California, Bourns College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. Electronic address: durbin@cert.ucr.edu.

PMID: 33905931
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147224

Abstract

This study assessed the real-world nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from 50 heavy-duty vehicles of different vocations and engine technologies using portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS). This is one of the most comprehensive in-use emissions studies conducted to date, which played a key role in the development of CARB's (California Air Recourses Board) updated EMission FACtor (EMFAC) model, especially for natural gas vehicles. In-use emissions testing was performed on school and transit buses, refuse haulers, goods movement vehicles, and delivery vehicles while were driven over their normal operating routes in the South Coast Air Basin. Engine technologies included diesel engines with and without selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, compressed natural gas (CNG) engines and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) engines, and SCR-equipped diesel hybrid electric vehicles. For most vehicles, the in-use NOx emissions were higher than the certification standards for the engine. Diesel vehicles generally showed higher brake-specific NOx emissions compared to the CNG vehicles. NOx emissions were strongly dependent on the SCR temperature, with SCR temperatures below 200 °C resulting in elevate brake-specific NOx. The 0.02 g/bhp-hr certified CNG vehicles showed the largest reductions in NOx emissions. The diesel hybrid electric vehicles showed important distance-specific NOx benefits compared to the conventional diesel vehicles, but higher emissions compared to the CNG and LPG vehicles. Overall, average NOx reductions were 75%, 94%, 65%, 79%, respectively, for the 0.2 CNG, 0.02 CNG, diesel hybrid electric, and LPG vehicles compared to diesel vehicles, due in part to some diesel vehicles with particularly high emissions, indicating that the widespread implementation of advanced technology and alternative fuel vehicles could provide important NOx reductions and a path for meeting air quality targets in California and elsewhere.

Keywords: Diesel hybrid electric trucks; NOx emissions; Natural gas vehicles; PEMS; Selective catalytic reduction.