Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LENS (L-vehicles Emissions and Noise mitigation Solutions)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-09-01 bis 2024-02-29
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.
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.
The work performed in the first 18 months of LENS includes:
• Definition of (i) vehicle tests setup and preparation for real driving measurements, (ii) testing procedure for standard PEMS (Portable Emission Measurement System) and SEMS (Sensor-based Emission Measurement System) measurements and outline of options for motorcycles where standard equipment cannot be mounted due to space limitations, (iii) requirements and conditions for real-world (RW) driving emission trips across various LVs subcategories.
• Definition of a procedure for laboratory testing including non-regulated pollutants.
• Review on the currently known and potential methods to tamper LVs including an assessment of the impact of tampering on noise and pollutant emission levels.
• Execution of round-robin test to check comparability of measurements between the testing laboratories in LENS.
• Development of: (i) 1 mini-PEMS with the capacity to measure down to 2.5nm (ii) 1 mini-PEMS for pollutants, (iii) 3 different SEMS for pollutants, (iv) 1 compact FTIR PEMS for non-regulated pollutants.
• Development of an on-board system to capture noise in parallel with location data of LVs under RW driving patterns.
• Development of a system for in-field roadside measurement of gaseous pollutants, PN and noise to be employed in the LENS in-field campaigns.
• Preparation of the 3 in-field campaigns; 1st will take place in Leuven (Belgium) on 13-17 May 2024.
• Definition of (i) vehicle tests setup and preparation for real driving measurements, (ii) testing procedure for standard PEMS (Portable Emission Measurement System) and SEMS (Sensor-based Emission Measurement System) measurements and outline of options for motorcycles where standard equipment cannot be mounted due to space limitations, (iii) requirements and conditions for real-world (RW) driving emission trips across various LVs subcategories.
• Definition of a procedure for laboratory testing including non-regulated pollutants.
• Review on the currently known and potential methods to tamper LVs including an assessment of the impact of tampering on noise and pollutant emission levels.
• Execution of round-robin test to check comparability of measurements between the testing laboratories in LENS.
• Development of: (i) 1 mini-PEMS with the capacity to measure down to 2.5nm (ii) 1 mini-PEMS for pollutants, (iii) 3 different SEMS for pollutants, (iv) 1 compact FTIR PEMS for non-regulated pollutants.
• Development of an on-board system to capture noise in parallel with location data of LVs under RW driving patterns.
• Development of a system for in-field roadside measurement of gaseous pollutants, PN and noise to be employed in the LENS in-field campaigns.
• Preparation of the 3 in-field campaigns; 1st will take place in Leuven (Belgium) on 13-17 May 2024.
LENS will adapt and enhance techniques to collect combined pollutant (regulated and non-regulated) and sound emission data of 150 LVs in real-time in the lab, on the road, and on-track and by remote sensing in field campaigns, in order to identify operating conditions causing high noise and pollutant emission rates but which are ill-reflected in current regulations.
In addition, LENS will develop and deploy in the field a method based on remote sensing of pollutants and sound that can screen actual tampered vehicles with high detection power. This will be the world’s first campaign where gaseous, nanoparticle and sound fingerprints from a large number of LVs is collected thus allowing to identify operating conditions and vehicles highly contributing to noise and emission levels.
LENS measurement activities will update all main EU emission models (COPERT, HBEFA, VERSIT) and the emission factor database (ERMES) with LV data on NOx, CO, HC, PN23, PN2.5 NH3 and NMVOC speciation and update the CNOSSOS-EU model for LVs.
In terms of developing best practices for users of LVs, LENS aims to deploy a tool to allow every drivers to assess and reduce their own mobility footprint. For this, a microscopic model will take as input their mobility data (GNSS data) and provide instantaneous footprint over the journey and personalised advice. A free-of-charge smartphone application providing this service [Geco air] has already being developed and will be further extended for LVs in LENS.
In addition, LENS will develop and deploy in the field a method based on remote sensing of pollutants and sound that can screen actual tampered vehicles with high detection power. This will be the world’s first campaign where gaseous, nanoparticle and sound fingerprints from a large number of LVs is collected thus allowing to identify operating conditions and vehicles highly contributing to noise and emission levels.
LENS measurement activities will update all main EU emission models (COPERT, HBEFA, VERSIT) and the emission factor database (ERMES) with LV data on NOx, CO, HC, PN23, PN2.5 NH3 and NMVOC speciation and update the CNOSSOS-EU model for LVs.
In terms of developing best practices for users of LVs, LENS aims to deploy a tool to allow every drivers to assess and reduce their own mobility footprint. For this, a microscopic model will take as input their mobility data (GNSS data) and provide instantaneous footprint over the journey and personalised advice. A free-of-charge smartphone application providing this service [Geco air] has already being developed and will be further extended for LVs in LENS.