E. Zervas*1, P.Dorlhne1, L. Forti2, C. Perrin2, J.C. Momique3, R. Monier3, D. Pingal4, B.

Lopez4 1 Renault, 1, Alle Cornuel - 91510 Lardy - France, 2 Institut Franais du Ptrole (IFP), 1 et 4 Avenue du Bois Prau - 92500 Rueil-Malmaison - France 3 PSA Peugeot Citren - 18, rue des Fauvelles - 92250 La Garenne-Colombes - France 4 Union Technique de lAutomobile, du Motocycle et du Cycle (UTAC), Autodrome de LinasMontlhry - 91310 Montlhry France 1. INTRODUCTION Current European regulations demand for a gravimetric measurement of particles emitted from Diesel passenger cars. But, as emission standards become more and more stringent, the classical gravimetric method reaches its limits. European regulations require that the mass collected on the filters must be between 1 and 5mg. To achieve this target, the conditions typically used in measurement laboratories are a flow through tunnel of about 12 m3/min, and a flow through filters of about 27 L/min. Four filters are used for a particulate matter measurement in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC): two (primary and backup) for the urban part of the cycle and two others (primary and backup) for the extra-urban part. The accuracy of the balance used must be at least 1g, but a higher accuracy will probably be necessary for future regulations. The Particle Measurement Programme (PMP) of the Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) of the United Nations at Geneva, is mandated to work on the development of an enhanced method for the PM measurement. The French PMP subgroup, composed by IFP, PSA Peugeot-Citron, Renault and UTAC, worked on the development of an improved gravimetric method. A round robin procedure is used to validate the repeatability and reproducibility of this method. 2. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION As the current gravimetric method is adapted to the Euro3 and Euro4 level of PM emissions, a lower emissions vehicle is needed for this improved method. To achieve lower emissions, a Euro3 Diesel vehicle (Citren Xsara, 2.0L) is used with disconnected EGR and fed with a sulphur free very paraffinic fuel, similar to Fischer-Tropsch one. The tests were performed on the New European Driving Cycle (cold and hot cycles). The flow through the tunnel was setup to 9 and 12 m3/min. The absence of water condensation is verified in the case of 9 m3/min in the case of this vehicle. The flow through the filters was set to 35-40 L/min, with a flow stability of 5%. The four laboratories are regularly verified using a passenger car and are well correlated (reproducibility and repeatability RSD value of 15% and 7% respectively for PM emissions of 0.028 g/km). For this reason, the Lab1 is chosen to work at a flow of 80 L/min to verify the influence of this parameter. To increase PM collected mass, only one filter was used over the entire NEDC. The filter type were Pallflex TX40, =47mm for the three labs but, to achieve a higher flow, a filter type with lower pressure drop (Pallflex T60A20, 47mm) was used in Lab1. Two types of balance, with resolution of 0.1 and 1 g, were used. The influence of multiple weighing is also examined. The intra-laboratory variability is expressed as the relative standard deviation of the measured values. The reproducibility and repeatability between the four laboratories is calculated according to the ISO 5725 standards, with a confidence interval of 63%. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1. Emissions of regulated pollutants, CO2 and fuel consumption The mean CO emissions are 0.26 and 0.28 g/km in the case of cold NEDC and 0.06 and 0.08 in the case of the hot cycle for the 9 and 12m3/min respectively, while the corresponding values for HC emissions are 0.009, 0.009, 0.006 and 0.007 g/km respectively. The reproducibility RSD values of CO emissions are 44-51% for the four configurations (cold 9m3/min, cold 12m3/min, hot 9m3/min and hot 12m3/min tests respectively), these of HC emissions are 62-90%, while the corresponding repeatability values are 11-24% in the case of CO and 6-21 in the case of HC. In the case of CO and HC, the RSD values of the hot tests are generally slightly higher from the cold ones due to the lower emissions, with is no trend between the 9 and 12m3/min. The mean NOx emissions are very high due to the EGR disconnection; they reach 0.86 and 0.87 g/km in the case of cold NEDC and 0.91 and 0.92 in the case of the hot cycle for the 9 and 12m3/min
efthimios.zervas@renault.com

Exhaust Gas Particle Measurement. Evaluation of an Improved Gravimetric Method.

respectively. The NOx RSD values are lower to the other pollutants RSD, due to the very high emissions. The reproducibility RSD values are 1.5-3.8% respectively for the four configurations, while the corresponding repeatability values are 1.0-1.5%. The mean PM emissions are 0.0082 and 0.0082 g/km in the case of cold NEDC and 0.0074 and 0.0072 in the case of the hot cycle for the 9 and 12m3/min respectively. Taking into account the four laboratories, the reproducibility RSD values are 17, 15, 17 and 15% for the four configurations, while the corresponding repeatability values are 1, 2, 4 and 3%. These values are very similar to those obtained if only the three laboratories using similar flow through the filters are taken into account (reproducibility RSD: 13, 15, 13 and 13% respectively; repeatability RSD: 1, 2, 4 and 4% respectively), indicating that the flow of 35-40 L/min or 80 L/min does not influence the determination of PM concentration. The reproducibility RSD values are less than 3.4% for the four configurations in the case of CO2 and 2.8% in the case of FC, while the repeatability values are less than 1.0%. The mean differences between 9 and 12m3/min are 2 and 12% for the cold and hot cycles in the case of CO, 9 and 28% in the case of HC, less than 0.8% in the case of NOx, CO2 and FC and less than 2.2 % in the case of PM measurements. These values indicate that, within the tested range, there is no influence of the flow through the tunnel on the CO, HC, NOx, PM, CO2 and fuel consumption measurements. 3.2. Influence of multiple weighing of filters Each filter is weighted five times on each balance. The mean weight of these five weighings is compared with the first one. These differences are extremely low, less than 0.023% in the worst case, while the mean difference is about 0.001%, suggesting that the multiple weighing is not necessary. At this low level of values, no significant difference can be observed between the two values of each parameter changed (loaded/unloaded filters, balance accuracy (0.1 or 1g) and laboratory (Lab1 and Lab4)). The repeatability of these measurements is very good: the mean RSD of the five weighings is less than 0.005%. 3.3 Influence of balance accuracy (0.1 or 1g) The mean differences between the two balances (of 0.1 and 1g) are 0.012% and 0.015% in the case of unloaded or loaded filters, indicating that the obtained results are equivalent. These low differences suggest that the 1g balance is suitable for the filter weighing, and the use of a higher balance accuracy does not improve accuracy for PM emissions down to at least 8 mg/km. The performances of the 1g balance are satisfactory for test approval purposes for this PM emission level. 3.4 Influence of flow through tunnel (9 or 12m3/min) on the collected mass Our tests were initially scheduled with a balance of 0.1 g, as we believed that this balance would be better adapted. The mean collected mass for the three laboratories using a flow through the filters of 35-40 L/min is 0.42 and 0.33mg at 9m3/min for the cold and hot tests respectively, against 0.39 and 0.29mg at 12 m3/min. The respective values of the first laboratory are 0.68, 0.56, 0.59 and 0.50mg. For the three laboratories using the same flow through the filters, the reproducibility RSD values are 29, 28, 25 and 29% for the four configurations, while the corresponding repeatability values are 3, 3, 7 and 3%. The RSD intra-laboratory variability, reproducibility and repeatability values of the cold and hot tests are quite similar. CONCLUSIONS The main conclusions of this study are the following: - There is no influence of the flow through the tunnel between 9 and 12m3/min on the measurements of the four regulated pollutants, CO2 and fuel consumption. - The multiple filter weighing does not improve the accuracy of measurements. - The repeatabilities of the 0.1 and 1g balances are identical. The performance of the last one is satisfactory for test approval purposes. - In the case of the flow through the filters of about 40 L/min, the mean PM mass collected on the filters is 0.33-0.42mg with satisfactory levels of reproducibility (RSD of 25-29%) and repeatability (RSD of 3-7%). If the flow through the filters reaches 80 L/min, the collected mass is 0.56-0.68mg. Under the conditions used, the collected mass is sufficient for test approval purposes. - The proposed gravimetric method can measure precisely low PM concentrations, at least as low as 8 mg/km, with no change on the existing facilities and supplementary cost, investment or personnel training on new instruments.
efthimios.zervas@renault.com