Development of organic gas exhaust speciation profiles for nonroad spark-ignition and compression-ignition engines and equipment

Abstract

The composition of exhaust emissions from nonroad engines and equipment varies based on a number of parameters, including engine type, emission control technology, fuel composition, and operating conditions. Speciated emissions data which characterize the chemical composition of these emissions are needed to develop chemical speciation profiles used for air quality modeling and to develop air toxics inventories. In this paper, we present results of an extensive review and analysis of available exhaust speciation data for total organic gases (TOG) for spark ignition (SI) engines running on gasoline/ethanol blends now in widespread use, and compression ignition (CI) engines running on diesel fuel. We identified two data sets best suited for development of exhaust speciation profiles. Neither of these data sets have previously been published. We analyzed the resulting speciation profiles for differences in SI engine exhaust composition between 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines using E0 (0% ethanol) and E10 (10% ethanol) blends, and differences in CI engine exhaust composition among engines meeting different emission standards. Exhaust speciation profiles were also analyzed to compare differences in maximum incremental reactivity (MIR) values; this is a useful indicator for evaluating how organic gases may affect ozone formation for air quality modeling. Our analyses found significant differences in speciated emissions from 2-stroke and 4-stroke SI engines, and between engines running on E0 and E10 fuels. We found significant differences in profiles from pre-Tier 1 CI engines, engines meeting Tier 1 standards, and engines meeting Tier 2 standards. Although data for nonroad CI engines meeting tier 4 standards with control devices such as particulate filters and selective catalyst reduction (SCR) devices were not available, data from highway CI engines suggest these technologies will substantially change profiles for nonroad CI engines as well (EPA, 2014c).

Implications: The nonroad engine data sets analyzed in this study will substantially improve exhaust speciation profiles used to characterize organic gas emissions from nonroad engines. Since nonroad engines are major contributors to ambient air pollution, these profiles can considerably improve U.S. emission inventories for gaseous air toxics emitted from nonroad engines. The speciation profiles developed in this paper can be used to develop more accurate emission inputs to chemical transport models, leading to more accurate air quality modeling.