Advanced Emission Controls and Sustainable Renewable Fuels for Low Pollutant and CO2 Emissions on a Diesel Passenger Car

Research efforts into advanced emission control systems led to significant reduction of pollutant emissions of modern internal combustion engines. Sustainable renewable fuels are used to further reduce their Well-to-Wheels greenhouse gas emissions. The novel aspect of this paper is the compatibility investigation of existing advanced emission control technologies for achieving low pollutant emissions with the use of sustainable renewable fuels with vehicle tests. This is done on a diesel demonstrator vehicle, equipped with Lean NOx trap and dual-SCR technologies in combination with a 48V mild-hybrid powertrain. Tailpipe pollutant and CO2 emissions are measured for market diesel fuel with 7% renewable fatty-acid-methyl-ester (FAME) (B7), diesel fuel with 30% FAME (B30), and 100% renewable hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). Results show no significant difference in pollutant emissions between the different fuels used. In a second part of the study, a Well-to-Wheels (WTW) analysis is conducted. This includes different pathways for the biomass-to-liquid fuels that were tested on the vehicle, as well as a power-to-diesel (e-diesel) assessment. Results show that significant WTW CO2 reductions are possibly compared to the state-of-the-art market diesel fuel. Part of this reduction is already possible for the existing fleet as most of paraffinic compounds are drop-in for market diesel fuel.