In-use emissions tests of alternatively fueled heavy-duty vehicles by a chassis dynamometer testing facility.

In order to obtain information on in-use emissions and fuel economy from alternatively fueled vehicles, West Virginia University (WVU) has designed, built, and is currently operating a transportable heavy-duy vehicle emissions testing laboratory. This laboratory is capable of measuring emissions from conventionally or alternatively fueled heavy-duty vehicles over a variety of transient cycles. This testing facility can travel to the fleet location, set up, and test a vehicle creating only a minimal disruption of the vehicle's normal operating schedule. In this paper, the configuration of the WVU transportable emissions testing facility is first introduced briefly; studies of in-use emissions from forty buses were then conducted during the operation of a testing cycle. The regulated emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), total hydrocarbon (HC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) from these vehicles were obtained, and the results were compared to evaluate the effects of different fuels on the exhaust emissions of heavy-duty vehicles. The WVU transportable emission testing laboratory has shown its particular value for in-use emissions studies of heavy-duty vehicles.