Reduction of Toxic Air Contaminants (TACs) and particulate matter emissions from heavy-duty natural gas engines

Increasing urban pollution levels have driven the Federal and the local air control boards to impose stricter emissions regulations on heavy-duty engines earmarked for transit buses. This has made natural gas a promising fuel for reducing the emissions of oxides of nitrogen and predominantly particulate matter from heavy-duty transit buses. Recent research studies performed at WVU and elsewhere have showed that natural gas engines emit an order of magnitude lower PM emissions, on a mass basis, when compared to diesel engines without any exhaust aftertreatment devices. However, on a number basis the emissions from natural gas fueled buses were an order of magnitude higher than their diesel counterparts.;This project was initiated by Southern California Air Quality Management District to design and develop an exhaust aftertreatment device for retrofitting urban transit buses powered by heavy-duty natural gas engines. The exhaust aftertreatment device was developed for a Cummins Westport C8.3G+ natural gas engine. Exhaust samples were collected by operating the vehicle on the Central Business District cycle on a chassis dynamometer. Regulated emissions were continuously measured while non-regulated emissions samples were collected on different media from a full flow dilution tunnel. In addition, PM concentrations and size distributions were also measured. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...