Emissions measurement from marine engines
Faculty and students from several departments are cooperating in a study to assess the impact of marine engine emissions on water quality. Recreational gasoline marine engines (both inboard and outboard) commonly bring hot exhaust gas into contact with cold water at their discharge. It is argued that this enhances the production of oxygenated hydrocarbon species and that these species enter the water phase. A dedicated dynamometer test rig has been constructed and configured to perform "wet" testing using a water (both fresh & saline) circulation system. Analytic protocols, using chromatography and mass spectrometry have been developed for species identification. Funding for this program is from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the US Department of the Interior.

Heavy-duty engine control development
Increased use of alternative compression ignition fuels (such as renewably derived biodiesel blends) offers fuel security through reduced dependence on foreign oil, as well as environmental benefits. However, adoption of biodiesel by the public and corporate sectors and endorsement of biodiesel by regulatory agencies will require the development of fuel-flexible engine control systems that can account for fill-to-fill variations in biodiesel blend fuel properties. This research project is aimed at developing an integrated approach to the reduction of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emitted by compression ignition engines that operate on biodiesel/diesel blends. Despite stringent restrictions on NOx and PM emissions, typical compression ignition engine controls on these engines take no account of the fuel type, nor do they employ any primary feedback to control fueling and hence emissions. The results of this research will allow full range operation of medium and heavy-duty engines on a variety of compression ignition fuels while minimizing NOx and PM emissions. It will also allow engines to operate with minimum emissions across wide ranges of temperature, humidity and altitude. To limit particulate emissions and permit the use of EGR while maintaining engine longevity, the engine control system must be capable of monitoring stack PM. A design has been proposed to monitor stack opacity in real-time to provide a reliable feedback engine control parameter. The engine control algorithms must employ injection timing modification, fueling limitation and ultimately, injection rate shaping. Having ensured low PM in the engine exhaust gases through fueling control, low smoke exhaust gas can then be made available for recirculation to curtail NOx emissions, either on an open-loop basis, or by employing NOx sensors currently under development.

Drive cycle development
West Virginia University researchers are developing a novel truck driving test cycle that will allow an assessment of emissions from an engine without removing the engine from a truck. This is of value because present Federal and California emissions standards require measurement of engine emissions, but removal of an engine for testing is a costly matter. The development of a test driving cycle that will allow the assessment of engine emission with the engine in the vehicle will provide tremendous cost savings. A Navistar International and a Cummins engine are being emissions tested both on the WVU engine dynamometer and in a truck, on a chassis dynamometer. A newly developed vehicle driving test cycle has the characteristic that the truck is held in a single gear but the engine is operated through a range of dynamic speeds and loads. Also, as part of this program the effect of engine tampering on emissions is being analyzed. Funding for this project is from the California Air Resources Board.