Particle Number (PN) - Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS): Heavy Duty Vehicles Evaluation phase at the Joint Research Centre (JRC)

JRC evaluated the feasibility of using PN-PEMS systems for Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDV) applications. The main evaluation phase took place between February and June 2016. One Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicle and three vehicles equipped Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) and Selective Catalytic NOx Reduction (SCR) were tested. The key conclusion of the evaluation phase is that PN-PEMS testing for HDV is feasible. However, low ambient temperatures were challenging for the instruments regarding their robustness. Re-testing of the commercial instruments in September with a DPF and SCR equipped vehicle showed that most of the issues were resolved. The PN-PEMS instruments measurement uncertainty is around 30% at the moment. Similar uncertainty (35%) was found when comparing the best performing system with the reference system at the dilution tunnel (CVS); i.e. PEMS method uncertainty.
JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transport