Reduction of Toxic Pollutants Emitted from Heavy-duty Diesel Vehicles by Deploying Diesel Particulate Filters

In this work, the effect of using a Whale filter on the overall vehicle exhaust emissions was evaluated. A Whale filter is a South African patented diesel particulate filter designed to operate as a secondary diesel filter for the removal of particulate contaminants up to 0.5 microns in size in the fuel prior to injection. It is believed that removal of contaminants prior to injection may improve the fuel injection efficiency, thereby promoting efficient combustion, and thus resulting in reduced emissions and fuel consumption. Emissions tests were conducted on four different vehicle categories to validate this. All vehicles underwent pre-emissions testing prior to installation of the Whale filter. Each test was conducted for a period of approximately 20 minutes by varying the engine speed. The Applus + Autologic Vehicle Emissions Analyser was used to measure the emissions at each stage, and a similar procedure was followed to measure the emissions after installation of the Whale filter. The results showed a significant average reduction in carbon monoxide CO (35.3%), nitrogen oxides NO x (26.1%) and hydrocarbons HC (34.3%) emissions after the Whale filter was installed in the four vehicles.

Section: Exhw Molecular Mass Of the Exhaust Gases On Wet Basis (G/mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduction of Vehicle Exhaust Emissions from Diesel Engines Using the Whale Concept Filter

Pilusa

Mollagee

Muzenda

2012

“…In addition to PAHs, a variety of complex organics (e.g., VOCs, SOFs, and even dioxins) (Schmitz et al, 2000;Chuang et al, 2010a;Chuang et al, 2010b;Kim et al, 2011;Hsieh et al, 2011) and inorganics (such as trace metals) (Lin et al, 2005;Lin et al, 2008a;Hu et al, 2009) in DEPs may also be responsible for the cytotoxicity of DEP extracts because of additivity, synergy, and antagonism. The SOF of diesel is toxic and causes generate inflammation and oxidative stress (Liu et al, 2008;Swanson et al, 2007).…”

Section: Cytotoxicty Of Dep Extractmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle-bound PAHs and Particle-extract-induced Cytotoxicity of Emission from a Diesel-generator Fuelled with Soy-biodiesel

Tsai

Huang

Chiu

et al. 2011

This study investigates the size distribution of nano/ultrafine particle-bound PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and the PAH-associated carcinogenic potency/cytotoxicity of the exhaust from a generator that is fuelled with D100 (pure petroleum diesel) and S20 (v/v = 20% soy-biodiesel/80% D100) and operated at stable energy output loads (0 and 3 kW). A micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI) and a Nano-MOUDI (with aerodynamic diameters of 0.01-18 μm) were used to collect PM samples. The cytotoxicity of the organic solvent extracts of PM samples to the human male monocytic cell strain (U937) was evaluated using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) method. The results indicate that at both loads, using S20 in place of D100 effectively reduced the emissions of DEPs, PAHs in the DEPs, and PAHs-associated BaP eq ; furthermore, the unit mass cytotoxicity of ultrafine particles and nano-particles in the DEPs was also lowered (by an average of 52.6%). Therefore, soybean biodiesel (S20) can be used as an alternative fuel to petroleum diesel to reduce the hazards of emissions from diesel engines to human health.

“…An epidemiological association between exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) and increased incidence of mortality and morbidity due to lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases has been demonstrated by recent studies (Pope et al, 2002;Nawrot et al, 2007;Gotschi et al, 2008;Hsieh et al, 2011;Hung et al, 2012). However, the causes of and mechanisms responsible for the adverse health effects associated with air particulate pollution are still unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy Metal Compositions and Bioreactivity of Airborne PM10 in a Valley-Shaped City in Northwestern China

Xiao

Shao

Zhang³

et al. 2013

Lanzhou, a valley-shaped city in northwestern China, experiences heavy air pollution. This study investigated the relationship between the oxidative capacity and heavy metal composition of the PM 10 in Lanzhou. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to examine the heavy metal element composition and an in vitro plasmid assay was employed to study the bioreactivity of airborne PM 10 . The monitoring data revealed that the mass concentration of Lanzhou PM 10 exhibited seasonal variations at both the urban and suburban sites, with higher values in winter and spring, lower values in autumn, and the lowest ones in summer. The results of ICP-MS analysis showed that Zn was the metal present in the highest concentrations in both the whole and water-soluble fractions of PM 10 collected at both the urban and suburban sites, followed by Fe, Pb, and Mn. Furthermore, the results indicated that Zn, Cd, and As were present mostly in their soluble forms, while the Fe, Pb, and V were primarily in their insoluble ones. The plasmid DNA assay results indicated that the TD 20 values (toxic dosages of PM 10 causing 20% of plasmid DNA damage) of the Lanzhou PM 10 collected at both the urban and suburban sites ranged from 10 μg/mL to over 1000 μg/mL, and exhibited seasonal variations. The TD 20 values were high in spring and autumn, and thus the toxicities were low, while the TD 20 values were low in winter and summer, and thus the toxicities were high. For PM 10 collected at both the urban and suburban sites, the high concentrations of water-soluble Zn, Fe, Pb, and Mn displayed a strong negative correlation with the TD 20 values, suggesting that these metals were likely the major elements responsible for plasmid DNA damage. In addition, meteorological conditions (i.e., lower wind speed and higher relative humidity) during the sampling periods may have caused an indirect increase in oxidative damage to DNA.