New Technology Answers More Questions about Vehicle Emissions

As electric vehicles begin to become more practical by operating for longer and farther, it is apparent that battery technology has had a large hand in this. However, oil-powered automotive industries are keeping up as well. Engineers at the Technische Universitaet Munchen have shown that emissions can be reduced to standards extremely close to the Euro 6 requirements. Currently, the Euro 5, put into affect three months ago, is the minimum requirement for all new vehicles.

These engineers, however, have already come close to meeting the future standards by developing a specialized probe which would directly extract samples from an engine combustion chamber while keeping the engine running. Using this new technology, the scientists can study soot formation, and eventually possibly controlling it. The probes only require a fraction of a second inside the combustion chamber, take samples, and then are removed from the chamber.

The TUM researchers were able to run a two tonne LVK engine without the smell of exhaust fumes anywhere, despite the engine being set to full power. The LVK engine is a key component in the new NEMo, a prototype low-emission diesel truck engine.

The developments are being made in preparation of the Euro 6 norm which will come into place down the road. The Euro 6 norm will be much more stringent on emissions than its former counterparts, requiring a four-fifths less of soot and three-quarters less of nitrogen oxides to be expelled than its predecessor the Euro 4 did.

Diesel engines have been popular in Europe and around the world for decades, however research is being made to make them more efficient as they currently expel a high emissions rate. Currently progress has already been made as fuel consumption has decreased and emissions are coming down with each new model.