AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Particle Number and Composition Differences From Conventional and Emerging Vehicle Technology on Varying Aromatic and High Octane Fuels
DANIEL SHORT, Diep Vu, Tyler Berte, Georgios Karavalakis, Thomas D. Durbin, Akua Asa-Awuku, University of California, Riverside
Abstract Number: 322 Working Group: Aerosol Sources from Emerging Energy Technologies and Production
Abstract Engine knock is the abnormal combustion of fuel due to increased fuel pockets that combust after or before the normal combustion window. High fuel octane ratings can reduce knock in the gasoline internal combustion engine. Ethanol and specific aromatic compounds are octane boosters found in gasoline today. Changes of fuel aromatic compounds can have significant impacts on particle composition such as Water-Soluble Organic Carbon (WSOC) and Black Carbon (BC). These particular particle compositions could alter Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) activity and have detrimental human health effects when inhaled.
Our study has measured the Particulate Matter (PM) emissions from a 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2012 Nissan Altima, 2012 Kia Optima, and 2012 Ford F150. Four distinct fuel blends were used which include 15%, 25%, and 35% aromatics content with an additional fuel of 35% aromatics with a high octane rating. These vehicles were driven on the Unified cycle (UC), which is the primary California Air Resources Board (CARB) vehicle certification test cycle. In addition, the vehicles were driven at three steady-state speeds of 30, 50, and 70 MPH. Particle number and gravimetric PM mass were measured and analyzed. Particle size distributions were measured with an Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) when the vehicles were driven at steady state speeds. The water-insoluble mass fraction was estimated using a unique method of interpreting differences between a water and butanol CPC particle counts. WSOC and real-time BC was also measured. Results show that high speeds have significant effects on the water-insoluble particle composition. Collectively, this study discusses the impacts high octane fuels have on vehicle particle emissions.