| Capability Title |
Emissions characterization and control |
| Laboratories |
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) |
| Capability experts |
Jon Burton (NREL), Josh Pihl (ORNL), Yong Wang (PNNL) |
| Description |
Equipment and instrumentation for engine exhaust emissions sampling and characterization are available to measure fuel effects on:
- single and multicylinder engines/dynamometers
- light and heavy-duty chassis dynamometers
- raw exhaust and full flow dilution tunnel
- particulate matter mass (gravimetric, EC/OC, AVL MSS)
- particle size distributions (SMPS, EEPS, FMPS)
- particulate chemical composition and physical properties (EC/OC, thermal desorption and pyrolysis GC-MS, SPLAT)
- detailed chemical speciation of gaseous exhaust hydrocarbon emissions (FTIR, Empore, DNPH, canisters)
Synthetic exhaust flow reactors provide the ability to measure the effects of fuel composition and fuel contaminants on the performance and durability of both monolith and powder emissions control catalyst materials, including:
- three-way catalysts (TWC)
- gasoline particulate filters (GPF)
- hydrocarbon traps (HCT)
- diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC)
- diesel particulate filters (DPF)
- urea/ammonia selective catalytic reduction catalysts (NH3-SCR)
- oxygenated hydrocarbon selective catalytic reduction catalysts (HC-SCR)
- ammonia oxidation catalysts (AMOx)
- passive NOx adsorbers (PNA)
- lean NOx traps (LNT)
Changes in catalyst structure and composition due to degradation and/or poisoning by fuel contaminants can be characterized through:
- X-ray diffraction (XRD)
- Chemi-/physi-sorption (e.g., BET)
- Electron microscopy (SEM and TEM)
- Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS/EDX)
- Electron Probe Microprobe Analysis (EPMA)
- Inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
- Solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
- Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)
- Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS)
Flow reactors and dedicated engine platforms support the development of catalyst formulations and aftertreatment system architectures for advanced combustion engines. |
| Limitations |
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| Unique aspects |
Unique ability to conduct research across a wide range of scales from vehicles to atoms and everything in between:
- Characterization of vehicle emissions
- Integration, control, and evaluation of emissions control devices on engines
- Measurement of catalyst properties, performance, and stability with monolith core samples and powders on synthetic exhaust flow reactors
- Identification of catalyst nanostructures, active sites, surface adsorbates, reaction mechanisms, and structure/property/function relationships
|
| Availability |
Utilization rates vary across the various labs; with planning, most experiments can be accommodated. |
| Citations/references |
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
https://www.ornl.gov/facility/ntrc/research-areas/fuels-engines-emissions |
