Strategies To Diminish the Emissions of Particles and Secondary Aerosol Formation from Diesel Engines

Particle emissions and secondary aerosol formation from internal combustion engines deteriorate air quality and significantly affect human wellbeing and health. Both the direct particle emissions and the emissions of compounds contributing to secondary aerosol formation depend on choices made in selecting fuels, engine technologies, and exhaust aftertreatment (EAT). Here we study how catalytic EATs, particle filtration, and fuel choices affect these emissions concerning heavy-duty diesel engine. We observed that the most advanced EAT decreased the emissions of fresh exhaust particle mass as much as 98% (from 44.7 to 0.73 mg/kWh) and the formation of aged exhaust particle mass ∼100% (from 106.2 to ∼0 mg/kWh). The composition of emitted particles depended significantly on the EAT and oxidative aging. While black carbon typically dominated the composition of fresh exhaust particles, aged particles contained more sulfates and organics. The fuel choices had minor effects on the secondary aerosol formation, implicating that, in diesel engines, either the lubricant is a significant source of secondary aerosol precursors or the precursors are formed in the combustion process. Results indicate that the utilization of EAT in diesel engines would produce benefits with respect to exhaust burden on air quality, and thus their utilization should be promoted especially in geographical areas suffering from poor air quality.