Project description
Fewer particles, better air quality
More than 275 million vehicles are on the EU’s roads today, with older taxis, delivery vans and buses impairing urban air quality. The EU-funded VERA project will develop, optimise and demonstrate innovative tailpipe retrofit solutions to address particle and NOx emissions, particularly considering NH3 emissions. The project will ensure system adaptability with a central development methodology, allowing fast and accurate optimisation for each application. Also, VERA will design and demonstrate brake retrofit solutions, applicable both as first installation on new vehicles as well as replacement parts. The combination of filtration systems with innovative discs and pads aims at maximum brake emission reduction of road vehicles, while particles from metro applications will be addressed with a filtration system and properly machined pads.
Objective
VERA will develop, optimise and demonstrate innovative tailpipe retrofit solutions that address particle (sub-23nm) and NOx emissions of road vehicles running on gasoline and natural gas and driving high mileages within the city (taxi, delivery van, bus), while particular considerations will be made for NH3 emissions. System adaptability will be ensured by a central development methodology for all the retrofit systems, allowing fast and accurate optimisation according to the requirements of each application, while the cost will be minimised using innovative washcoats and compact packaging. A variety of brake retrofit solutions will be developed, deployed and optimised for brake particle emissions of road vehicles, comprising an active filtration system capturing the generated particles and innovative brake discs and pads to reduce brake wear. The combination of the two solutions will aim at the maximum reduction of brake particles, while alternative production techniques will be applied to reduce the cost. Brake particles from metro applications will be also addressed with an active filtration system and properly machined pads, covering two types of braking technologies. The brake solutions of VERA combine unique advantages: they can all be used for first installation on new vehicles, the discs and pads can be manufactured for any vehicle as replacement parts, while the capturing system can be applied from road vehicles to metros. Further to the systems, exposure of workers and passengers in a metro station will be assessed with combined field measurements and modelling of particle dispersion inside stations and tunnels. Following the detailed evaluation of the systems, an impact assessment study will highlight the benefits of the proposed solutions against their cost. Both environmental and health impacts will be analysed, while possible incentive and regulatory schemes for retrofitting will be considered in the scenarios of the cost-benefit analysis.
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Funding Scheme
HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation ActionsCoordinator
546 36 THESSALONIKI
Greece