Better emissions testing tech backed
A €2.7m project aimed at improving emissions testing of diesel vehicles has received the support of Horizon 2020.
The venture also aims to better take account of real-world driving and help comply with future lower emission regulations.
Amminex Emissions Technology, based in Denmark, will receive €1.9m from the EU research and development programme and aims to develop and demonstrate how its established ASDS™ technology and related components for buses and trucks can be adapted to work in small to medium sized engines in passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and vans.
The company is receiving funding through phase two of Horizon 2020’s SME Instrument and will particularly focus on the documentation of compliance with existing and future legislation, fuel savings, CO2 benefits and NO2 reduction, both in an engine lab environment and in real driving conditions on the road.
Providing the background to the venture, Ulrich Quaade, head of R&D at Amminex, commented: “Over the last decades EU regulation of diesel emissions has been far less successful than originally envisaged by regulators, particularly regarding NOx emissions. More recently, the Euro 5 and the current Euro 6 standards, have led to some improvements. Still, regulators are not satisfied because a large share of the EU member states remain struggling to comply with required air quality limit values.
“The test cycle underestimates real-world driving by a significant margin … this is why the EU is developing a more elaborate test procedure to ensure real-world emissions of Euro 6 light duty diesels and subsequent legislated levels will actually deliver the expected reductions.”
EU regulatory test cycles are seen as incapable of reproducing real-world driving according to Amminex, thus meaning that although Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel cars appear to have lower NOx emissions than those of Euro 3 and 4, their absolute emissions in real-world driving are in fact significantly higher.
Regulators are aiming to improve fuel consumption by 5% for diesel when compared to the best vehicles on the market in 2013, in addition to establishing a future super-low emission vehicle standard with targets that are significantly lower than the current Euro 6.
The project runs until 2017.
