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Real-World NO X Emissions of Transit Buses Equipped with Diesel Exhaust Aftertreatment Systems

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Abstract

In this work, we compare nitrogen oxide (NO X ) emissions from vehicles equipped with 2013 and 2015 model year (MY) diesel engines and exhaust aftertreatment, both certified to the same emissions standards, over a variety of real-world drive cycles. Our study concludes that 2013MY and 2015MY buses achieved real-world NO X conversion efficiencies of 75 and 95%, respectively. Engine-out NO X levels remained unchanged between the two busses when driven over the same transit bus routes. Therefore, emissions reductions are attributed to greater NO X conversion efficiency by the exhaust aftertreatment system, especially in low catalyst temperature and transient response scenarios. Although it is likely that other transit buses and vocational vehicles will express different characteristics based on their specific operating conditions and powertrain setup; our results show that improvements to aftertreatment systems, in the areas of catalyst activity, aftertreatment controls, and urea dosing strategy can significantly reduce NO X emissions over the investigated real-world drive cycles.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Twin Cities Metro Transit for allowing data collection from in-service transit buses, installing data logging equipment, and for providing access to bus route information. In particular, we would like to acknowledge David Haas at Metro Transit for his critical assistance in coordinating bus schedules and providing technical guidance on this project. We would also like to recognize Cummins Emission Solutions for funding this research and for providing insight and technical assistance throughout the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, 111 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Andrew J. Kotz, David B. Kittelson & William F. Northrop

  2. Cummins Emission Solutions, 1801 US Hwy 51-138, Stoughton, WI, 53589, USA

    Niklas Schmidt

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  1. Andrew J. Kotz
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  2. David B. Kittelson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to William F. Northrop.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This work was funded in part by Cummins Emission Solutions.

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Kotz, A.J., Kittelson, D.B., Northrop, W.F. et al. Real-World NO X Emissions of Transit Buses Equipped with Diesel Exhaust Aftertreatment Systems. Emiss. Control Sci. Technol. 3, 153–160 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40825-017-0064-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40825-017-0064-4

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