On-Road Emissions Evaluation of Student-Produced Biodiesel

This paper describes the on-road evaluation of emissions from student-produced biodiesel. The study compared the emissions of B100, B50 and B20 with commercial ULSD. A modern diesel vehicle powered by a 1.9L turbocharged direct injected compression ignition (DIG) engine was used along with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) oxidation catalyst and diesel particulate filter. A portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) was used to measure tailpipe NO_x, CO and HC. The on-road drive cycle was conducted in a mixture of city and interstate driving. Repeatability and accuracy of the drive-cycle was evaluated. The study found that NO_x increased with the amount of biodiesel in the fuel. The study also found that tailpipe CO was insignificant with all blends tested. The HC data using the PEMS were not useful.