Assessment of a regulatory measurement system for the determination of the non-volatile particulate matter emissions from commercial aircraft engines

John S Kinsey; Robert Giannelli; Robert Howard; Brandon Hoffman; Richard Frazee; Michael Aldridge; Cullen Leggett; Katherine Stevens; David Kittelson; William Silvis; Jeffrey Stevens; Prem Lobo; Steven Achterberg; Jacob Swanson; Kevin Thomson; Timothy McArthur; Donald Hagen; Max Trueblood; Lindsay Wolff; David Liscinsky; Russell Arey; Kate Cerully; Richard Miake-Lye; Timothy Onasch; Andrew Freedman; William Bachalo; Gregory Payne; Mikal Durlicki

doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2020.105734

Assessment of a regulatory measurement system for the determination of the non-volatile particulate matter emissions from commercial aircraft engines

J Aerosol Sci. 2021 May:154:1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2020.105734.

Authors

John S Kinsey¹, Robert Giannelli², Robert Howard³, Brandon Hoffman⁴, Richard Frazee⁵, Michael Aldridge², Cullen Leggett², Katherine Stevens⁶, David Kittelson⁷, William Silvis⁸, Jeffrey Stevens², Prem Lobo⁹, Steven Achterberg¹⁰, Jacob Swanson⁷, Kevin Thomson¹¹, Timothy McArthur¹², Donald Hagen¹⁰, Max Trueblood¹⁰, Lindsay Wolff¹³, David Liscinsky¹⁴, Russell Arey¹⁵, Kate Cerully¹⁶, Richard Miake-Lye¹⁷, Timothy Onasch¹⁷, Andrew Freedman¹⁷, William Bachalo¹⁸, Gregory Payne¹⁸, Mikal Durlicki¹²

Affiliations

¹ Formerly U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA.
² U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, National Vehicle and Fuels Emissions Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA.
³ QuantiTech, Inc. (Formerly Aerospace Testing Alliance), Arnold Engineering Development Complex, Arnold Air Force Base, TN, 37389, USA.
⁴ U. S. Air Force, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH (Formerly Arnold Engineering Development Complex), Arnold Air Force Base, TN, 37389, USA.
⁵ Singularity Scientific, Whitmore Lake, MI 48189 (Formerly AVL-North America), Plymouth, MI, 48170, USA.
⁶ Honeywell Aerospace, Phoenix, AZ (Formerly Aerospace Testing Alliance), Arnold Engineering Development Complex, Arnold Air Force Base, TN, 37389, USA.
⁷ University of Minnesota, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
⁸ WMS Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (Formerly AVL-North America), Plymouth, MI, 48170, USA.
⁹ National Research Council-Canada, Ottawa, CANADA (Formerly Missouri University of Science and Technology), USA.
¹⁰ Missouri University of Science and Technology, Center for Excellence for Aerospace Particulate Emissions Reduction Research, Rolla, MO, 65409, USA.
¹¹ National Research Council-Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
¹² Formerly ARCADIS-U. S., Durham, NC, 27709, USA.
¹³ Formerly Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA.
¹⁴ Formerly United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT, 06108, USA.
¹⁵ Deceased (Formerly GE Aviation), Cincinnati, OH, 45215, USA.
¹⁶ Formerly TSI, Inc., Shoreview, MN, 55126, USA.
¹⁷ Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, MA, 01821, USA.
¹⁸ Artium Technologies, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, USA.

Abstract

The SAE International has published Aerospace Information Report (AIR) 6241 which outlined the design and operation of a standardized measurement system for measuring non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) mass and number emissions from commercial aircraft engines. Prior to this research, evaluation of this system by various investigators revealed differences in nvPM mass emissions measurement on the order of 15-30% both within a single sampling system and between two systems operating in parallel and measuring nvPM mass emissions from the same source. To investigate this issue, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the U. S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Complex initiated the VAriable Response In Aircraft nvPM Testing (VARIAnT) research program to compare nvPM measurements within and between AIR-compliant sampling systems used for measuring combustion aerosols generated both by a 5201 Mini-CAST soot generator and a J85-GE-5 turbojet engine burning multiple fuels. The VARIAnT research program has conducted four test campaigns to date. The first campaign (VARIAnT 1) compared two essentially identical commercial versions of the sampling system while the second campaign (VARIAnT 2) compared a commercial system to the custom-designed Missouri University of Science and Technology's North American Reference System (NARS) built to the same specifications. Comparisons of nvPM particle mass (i.e., black carbon), number, and size were conducted in both campaigns. Additionally, the sensitivity to variation in system operational parameters was evaluated in VARIAnT 1. Results from both campaigns revealed agreement of about 12% between the two sampling systems, irrespective of manufacturer, in all aspects except for black carbon determination. The major source of measurement differences (20-70%) was due to low BC mass measurements made by the Artium Technologies LII-300 as compared to the AVL 483 Micro-Soot Sensor, the Aerodyne Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift (CAPS PM_SSA) monitor, and the thermal-optical reference method for elemental carbon (EC) determination, which was used as the BC reference.

Keywords: Aerosol sampling systems; Aircraft turbine engines; Black carbon; Combustion aerosols; Elemental carbon; Laboratory generated soot.

Grants and funding

EPA999999/ImEPA/Intramural EPA/United States