Fuel Effects on Regulated and Unregulated Emissions from Two Commercial Euro V and Euro VI Road Transport Vehicles

Rod Williams, Rasmus Pettinen, Pauline Ziman, Kenneth Kar and Roland Dauphin
Additional contact information
Rod Williams: Shell Global Solutions (UK), Concawe, London SE1 7NA, UK
Rasmus Pettinen: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Pauline Ziman: PHS Consulting Ltd., Cheshire CH3 8NL, UK
Kenneth Kar: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, Concawe, Annandale, NJ 08801, USA
Roland Dauphin: Concawe, 1160 Brussels, Belgium

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-38

Abstract: Substantial advances in European road vehicle emissions have been achieved over the past three decades driven by strengthening revisions in emissions legislation and enabled by advances in fuel, vehicle engine and emissions control technologies. As both vehicle technology and emissions legislation in Europe continue to evolve, Concawe has conducted a study to examine the effects that fuels can have on emissions, in this case from commercial road vehicles. A bus certified to Euro VI emissions level and a delivery truck certified to Euro V emissions level have been tested on a chassis-dyno over the World Harmonized Vehicle Cycle (WHVC) and Transport for London Urban Inter-Peak (TfL UIP) test cycles with six fuels: an EN590-compliant B5 (petroleum diesel containing 5% biodiesel by volume), a bioderived paraffinic diesel, a 50:50 blend of the aforementioned fuels, a low-density petroleum-derived B5, a B30 and the same B30 additized with a high dose of cetane number improver (CNI). Results show reduced NO x reductant (AdBlue) consumption with paraffinic diesel in the Euro VI bus due to lower engine-out NO x emissions. More surprisingly, higher hydrocarbon emissions were observed with some low-density hydrocarbon fuels in the Euro V truck. Compared to B5, B30 with and without CNI did not affect tank-to-wheel (TTW) CO 2 , volumetric fuel consumption or NO x by statistically significant margins. When considered with the findings of a complementary light-duty study, it is apparent that low-density diesel fuels could offer overall benefits to both emissions affecting local air quality and to greenhouse gas emissions on a TTW basis. The addition of higher fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) levels to fuels can be used to increase renewable fuel contribution resulting in no penalty in NO x emissions from modern technology vehicles. Compatibility of these fuels with the existing vehicle fleet would require further specific consideration. Outside of fuel properties considerations, Euro VI aftertreatment systems can increase N 2 O emissions at the tailpipe through chemical reactions in the catalyst. This can translate into about 10% contribution of N 2 O emissions to the overall GHG emissions of the vehicle.

Keywords: heavy-duty vehicles; bus; chassis dyno tests; pollutant emissions; alternative fuels; fatty acid methyl esters; paraffinic fuels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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