The Diesel Engine's Challenge in the New Millenium Page: 4 of 8
This article is part of the collection entitled: Office of Scientific & Technical Information Technical Reports and was provided to UNT Digital Library by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
low sulfur fuel be available. Sulfur poisons
catalysts and is especially harmful to the
Barium type NOx adsorbers. Sulfur in diesel
fuel results in sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the exhaust
gas. Roughly 2 percent of this SO2 further
oxidizes to SO3 which condenses with the
water in the exhaust to form sulfuric acid. This
sulfuric acid is absorbed by the carbon
particulates thereby increasing the mass of
particulate emissions. These oxides of sulfur
have further reactions in the atmosphere
resulting in problems including acid rain. The
EPA appears to be leaning to 15 PPM sulfur in
diesel fuel by 2007. The California Air
Resources Board is considering requiring the
ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel by 2004. This could
lead to the early availability of this fuel but
possibly in insufficient quantities to meet the
demand. It is interesting to note that several
major oil companies in Europe are providing
10 PPM sulfur diesel fuel in quantity. Texaco is
currently providing 10 PPM sulfur fuel in
Germany and the Scandinavian countries, and
will shortly provide it in the UK and France.
This was achieved by the countries involved
designing tax reduction motivation to help
defray the very expensive refinery modification
costs (3). The most definitive effect of various
sulfur level diesel fuels on diesel engine
emissions is the Diesel Engine Comparative
Sulfur Effects, or DECSE Program, managed
by DOE's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory. At this point in time, it appears that
diesel fuel with around 15 PPM sulfur will be
necessary to meet the Tier 2 Standards.
Particulates from diesel engines have been
taking the rap for the exponential increase in
asthma over the last 25 years on both sides of
the Atlantic. Many agree that parts of dead
cockroaches, their feces, dust mites, and the
like cause asthma. The concern is what might
exasperate this respiratory disorder. While
diesel particulates are a candidate, particulate
emissions from heavy-duty trucks and buses
have been reduced by 90 percent over the last
25 years. This inverse relationship suggestsanother culprit/culprits. Consider what
happened about 25 years ago. The catalytic
converter was introduced on gasoline engine
powered automobiles and the AIDS disease
was detected. In a paper presented at the
National Academy of Sciences this Spring it
was reported that an Italian medical group had
made a correlation between very small
quantities of platinum and enhanced
susceptibility to asthma (3). In response to the
AIDS epidemic, there is an incredible
expansion in the use of Latex gloves that give
off allergens that could play a role in asthma.
Enough speculation. The Health Effects
Institute is initiating a major program to sort out
the asthma situation. While, several
Environmental groups are blatantly anti-dirty
diesel, some appear just anti-diesel. Repre-
sentatives from the Environmental Community
have been invited to the last four DEER
Workshops and there has been an
Environmentalist Panel Session in the last two
DEER Workshops. Our objective was to
provide information with respect to the tech-
nological advances in diesel engine emission
reduction recently achieved and further ad-
vances in various stages of development.
While there is some commonality in goals of
the Environmentalists and the Diesel Engine
Community, there are also major differences.
However, mutual respect emerged between
the two groups as the dialogue developed.
There are some other Environmentalists who
are trying to eliminate diesel engines in high-
way use based more on emotion than sci-
ence, as illustrated by the cover of a pamphlet
handed out during a recent meeting to discuss
the Washington, DC Metro acquisition of a
large number of transit buses shown as figure
2.
Diesel engineers have to worry about meeting
very stringent emission standards with reliable
and durable devices that are economically
viable. Impending EPA Regulationswill require
emissions reduction systems to work for
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This article can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Article.
Fairbanks, John W. The Diesel Engine's Challenge in the New Millenium, article, August 20, 2000; United States. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc785283/m1/4/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.