Overview

The Emissions and Fuels research team at CE-CERT, including national and international research leaders, is applying advanced technologies and methods to the measurement of emissions from all types of engines, including cars and light-duty trucks, heavy-duty freight trucks and construction equipment, and the large engines that power marine vessels. CE-CERT has considerable experience with successfully completing complex projects that involve elements of laboratory testing, fieldwork, activity measurements, and PEMS evaluations and implementations.

Research Projects

• Advanced Off-Road NG Vehicle Demonstration and Evaluation

  This proposal is in response to the California Energy Commission research for advanced transportation technologies with renewable energy (AB118/8) that innovate a wide range of efficiency of engines with advanced emission control and aftertreatment technologies to enable or exceed current Tier 4 emission standards. UCR is teaming with Gradstein and Associates for a comprehensive approach and evaluation of NG technologies as they relate to off-road applications. The project will test the emission and operational performance of natural gas and RNG fueled yard hostlers alongside various yard hostler technologies, including electric and (Tier 4 final) diesel. The natural gas hostlers will be powered by 9 liter NZ engines (already funded) and 6.7 liter 0.1g NOx engines. The project will test fossil natural gas and various blends and sources of renewable natural gas, brought to the site from physical RNG production plants in both LNG and CNG form. To use CNG on the yard hostlers, CNG fuel systems will be required to be fitted on some of the hostlers. The fuel gas sensor will be integrated into an engine to measure gas quality (and make engine adjustments). Well-to-wheel analysis can be considered or the various fuel pathways. The existing funding of the 20 LNG yard hostlers will allow for significantly more extensive testing via this CEC PON award as the funds do not have to be spent on expensive hardware. 

  Lead Researcher: Dr. Kent Johnson Co-researcher: Dr. Chan Seung Park

• Off-road Equipment data monitoring

  The University of California at Riverside will provide support for data logging and potentially portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) testing of off-road equipment. This will be conducted in support of the Port of Long Beach’s (POLB) prime contract effort with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to fund 2 battery-electric top handlers (Taylor/BYD) at the SSA terminal, and 1 battery-electric top handler, 1 battery-electric yard hostler (Kalmar/TransPower), and 1 fuel-cell yard hostler (CNHTC/LOOP Energy) at the LBCT terminal. In conjunction with these advanced technology equipment, one diesel top handler at LBCT, one diesel top handler at SSA Marine, and one diesel yard truck at LBCT will also be monitored.

  Lead Researcher: Dr. Kent Johnson Co-researchers: Dr. Kanok Booriboonsomsin, Dr. Thomas Durbin

• Collection and Analysis of Agricultural Equipment Activity Data

  Agriculture is a key industrial sector in California that employs a large fraction of the workforce and contributes significantly to the state economy. The agriculture industry produces over 400 different commodities that generate over $50 billion in annual sales and over 400,000 jobs statewide. Off-road diesel engines are widely used in agricultural goods production and supply, and in 2012, approximately 14 percent of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) originated from farm equipment. To improve air quality and develop effective incentive strategies for the SJV, constructing an accurate agricultural emissions inventory with the latest activity data is critical. The objective of this research is to collect accurate real-world data from agricultural equipment to improve the emission inventory, and to inform policies, incentive programs and the development of future off-road engine emission standards. This research will characterize how agricultural engines in the SJV operate under actual working conditions, including their activity parameters (e.g., engine speed, torque, and fuel rate) and maintenance frequency, type, and cost. This research project will collect Engine Control Unit (ECU) data related to engine and aftertreatment performance for up to 200 agriculture tractors. The results will be analyzed to better understand the activity patterns of these tractors, which will in turn be used in the development of more accurate future emission inventories and more representative engine certification standards.

  Lead Researcher: Dr. Thomas Durbin Co PI's: Dr. Kent Johnson, Dr. Kanok Boriboonsomsin 

• Zero-and-Near-Zero Emissions Freight Facility Grant

  The University of California at Riverside (UCR) will provide support for data logging and potentially portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) testing, and chassis dynamometer. This will be conducted in support of the Port of Long Beach’s (POLB) prime contract effort with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) under the zero- and near-zero freight facility proposal. For a subset of equipment/vehicles, UCR will process and analyze the collected data to determine activity patterns including hours of operation, days of operation per year, miles traveled per day (and associated odometer reading per day and per shift if shift times are provided), average value and distribution of speed and acceleration, and idling time. We will analyze the performance of the vehicle/equipment in terms of the state of charge (SOC) throughout the work shift (minute-by-minute), fuel/energy consumption rate per work completed/distance driven, and fuel/energy consumption while idling. UCR can also provide for two weeks of PEMS testing, including travel to the site, installation and equipment preparation on-site, and actual testing. UCR can also provide for chassis dynamometer testing for a wide range of advanced technology vehicles. The basic budget includes two days of chassis dynamometer testing with CE-CERT’s heavy-duty chassis dynamometer testing facility. Measurement could include emissions for vehicles powered by natural gas, diesel, or other liquid or gas-phase fuels, standard parameters for electric vehicles consistent with the test plan outline by UCR in its guidance document for the POLB, and a combination of both emissions and EV parameters for hybrids.

  Lead Researcher: Dr. Thomas Durbin Co-researchers: Dr. Kent Johnson, Dr. Kanok Boriboonsomsin, Dr. Wayne Miller 

• Activity Data of Off-road Engines in Construction

  Off-road diesel equipment represents one of the most important sources of emissions in California, and a key area where NOx and PM reductions are needed to meet air quality standards. Construction and agricultural equipment is estimated to contribute about 8% of the NOx emissions in the State in 2016, and this relative contribution is expected to increase as emissions continue to decline from on-road heavy-duty vehicles. Understanding the contribution of the off-road diesel engines to the emissions inventory is critical to developing effective regulations for the off-road sector, and in evaluating what emissions control strategies are needed. For this, it is important understand the activity patterns for off-road equipment that can be used to accurately portray their in-use operation. Although some studies of off-road construction activity have been conducted over the years, the available data for off-road equipment is still considerably more limited compared to on-road mobiles sources. Additionally, the activity estimates being used in the current version of the OFFROAD model are based on survey data from before 2010, with much of that data not being specific to California fleets. The current study will expand on UCR and ARB studies by focusing on the activity data collection that will cover a comprehensive array of equipment types and engine power ratings for construction equipment, and later extending the collection to agricultural equipment. For this study, activity measurements will be made from at least 10 pieces of equipment, representing a range of horsepowers, for a range of 10 different equipment types. The data will be analyzed to provide summary statistics, including number of engine starts per day and distribution of soak times, as well as statistics and distributions of durations, load factors, and exhaust temperatures for each vocational use. This study will build on UCR’s extensive experience in monitoring both activity and emissions of off-road equipment. In addition to the internal resources available through UCR, we will also take advantage of our existing Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. EPA. Under the CRADA, UCR has access to data loggers that would provided by the U.S. EPA. The U.S. EPA can also potentially provide additional resources to assist with the QA/QC and data analysis of the activity data.

  Lead Researcher: Dr. Thomas Durbin Co-researchers: Dr. Kanok Boriboonsomsin, Dr. Kent Johnson 

• Renewable Diesel for Off-Road Diesel Engines

  The purpose of this study is to better understand emissions and performance effects from renewable diesel and NOx-mitigated biodiesel relative to CARB ULSD. This study proposes to conduct detailed emissions testing on various renewable diesel blends (and potentially biodiesel blends) on heavy-duty off-road engines, with and without SCR exhaust treatment and diesel particulate filters (DPF) using an engine dynamometer. This study would focus on the physical and chemical characterization of particulate emissions and gaseous toxic pollutants from two off-road engines, one equipped with SCR and DPF aftertreatment systems and one older Tier 2 engine without aftertreatment system. SCAQMD will build upon the work UCR and CARB will be conducting in order to investigate the emissions of renewable diesel from newer technology off-road engines.

  Lead Researcher: Dr. Georgios Karavalakis Co-researcher: Dr. Kent Johnson