The contribution of L-category vehicles (LVs) to hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions has been shown to exceed 20% and 7% of total road transport emissions, despite their activity does not exceed 3.5% of passenger-related distance travelled. In addition, tampering (any modification based on the removal, replacement, or readjustment of components, setting the vehicle outside of its approved specifications) is very popular in LVs with earlier estimates of up to 35% of fleet LVs operating on illegal exhausts while such unlawful acts lead to up to 30 times emissions increases. A survey conducted by Emisia S.A. in 14 major EU cities in 2019 with more than 2500 LVs sampled to identify the extent of muffler replacement showed that an average of 13% of fleet LVs have their muffler replaced. Often, mufflers also house the catalyst, so their replacement is associated with catalyst removal in addition to altering noise levels. Earlier tests on catalyst efficiency have shown that this is of the order of 90% effective in reducing CO and HC and some 70% in nitrogen oxides (NOx), therefore its removal results to equivalent emissions increases.
LENS aims at improving our understanding of sound and pollutant emissions from LVs by using advanced on-road measurement methods and techniques with the potential for in-field tampering detection aiming to:
• Further enhance, adapt, and revise sound and emissions characterisation techniques for combined measurements of noise, nanoparticle & gaseous pollutants of LVs.
• Characterise noise and emissions over a variety of real-world (RW) operating conditions (of 150 LVs), including strong accelerations, speed variations, high-speeds, and cold engine start. Include PN2.5 and non-regulated pollutants in the lab, on-track and on the road.
• Deploy refined and validated beyond-state-of-the-art techniques in-field to identify LVs with excessive noise and high particle number emissions.
• Culminate project findings into specific recommendations and simulation models that can contribute into alleviating the impact of current and future LVs to noise and air pollution.
