Characterizing particulate matter emissions from GDI and PFI vehicles under transient and cold start conditions

Ultrafine particle emissions from Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) and Port Fuel Injection (PFI) vehicles under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) were measured by using the Differential Mobility Spectrometer 500 (DMS 500) for size distribution information and Transmission Electronic Microscopy (TEM) for morphological analysis. The first phase of the ECE 15 cycle (representing the urban driving condition) within the NEDC was examined to evaluate the cold start effect on particulate matter (PM) emissions. Even though the ECE 15 cycle1 only occupies 1/6th of the time of the NEDC, the cold start emissions accounted for more than 50% of the total particle number for GDI vehicles and approximately 70% for PFI vehicles. Further analysis in terms of the Count Medium Diameter (CMD) of the PM emissions is also discussed. A linear regression method was adopted to analyze the correlation between PM emissions and vehicle parameters. For GDI vehicles, acceleration demonstrated a strong correlation with PM emissions, particularly under warm start conditions. The effects of the after treatment device Three Way Catalyst (TWC) on PM emissions was also investigated.