Diesel vehicle emissions put to the test
by Geraldine Hinter
Emissions from diesel motor vehicles are already known to pose a
major health risk and constitute the most significant source of urban
air pollution in Australia.
Now, a UniSA study will examine just what – and how much of it – is being emitted from the exhausts of SA’s fleet of diesel vehicles, and the effect of servicing and repair on emissions performance.
UniSA’s Transport Systems Centre (TSC) is acknowledged as one of two leading national research centres in transportation, with an emphasis on finding pathways for reducing greenhouse gases, improving air quality and, ultimately, achieving sustainable transport systems.
It has already identified the makes, models and year of manufacture of up to 800 diesel vehicles that will be required for testing and analysis. The results, to be extrapolated to the whole of the SA fleet, will allow the Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (DTEI) to make policy decisions based on accurate and reliable scientific data.
Dr Rocco Zito, Senior Research Fellow and TSC Deputy Director, says motor vehicles are responsible for about 65 per cent of nitrogen oxide emissions – a precursor to the formation of photochemical smog – and almost 15 per cent of small particle emissions in the Adelaide metropolitan area, with diesel vehicles currently contributing disproportionately to this urban air pollution.
Fine particles have been identified as a major health risk, with the smaller the particle, the greater the risk.
"The TSC will use a vehicle emissions test facility based at Regency Park to undertake the scientific and statistical analysis required to determine the emissions performance of the South Australian diesel fleet and the effect of servicing and repair on the emissions performance of diesel vehicles," Dr Zito says.
The TSC is enlisting the help of UniSA staff and students, the RAA and Transport Engineering and Management to source diesel vehicles for testing based on a national in-service diesel vehicle standard commonly known as the DT80, with emission limits set for oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and smoke opacity as well as a Composite Urban Emissions Drive Cycle used to determine the in-service emissions performance of diesel vehicles.
The testing is to be performed at the DTEI chassis dynamometer emissions test
facility at Regency Park, which opened last month. The opening included
presentations by Michael O’Brien, Parliamentary Secretary in SA; Michael Ward,
Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage, Clean Fuels and Vehicles;
and UniSA’s Pro Vice Chancellor: Information Technology, Engineering and
the Environment, Professor Robin King.
The facility includes emissions measurement capabilities for diesel, petrol, LPG and alternative fuelled vehicles, as well as all vehicle types including passenger and light commercial vehicles, rigid and articulated trucks, and buses.