The Log
5 January 2009: The ASME Internal Combustion Engine 2009 Fall Technical Conference will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland on September 20-24, 2009. The authors’ deadline for abstract submittal is February 13, 2009.
17 December 2008: EU Parliament adopts final biofuels targets [more ...], agrees on legislation to control CO2 emissions from cars [more ...] and adopts Euro VI emission standards proposal for heavy-duty engines [more ...]
12 December 2008: Added emission standards summaries for nonroad diesel engines in India and Turkey.
11 December 2008: Presentations from the Course on Ultrafine Diesel Particles and Retrofit Technologies for Diesel Engines held in Diamond Bar, CA on November 12-14 have been posted on the California ARB webpage.
9 December 2008: Pushed by converging emission regulations, manufacturers are developing global heavy-duty engine platforms for use in North America, Europe and Asia. Examples include the Detroit Diesel 15, introduced last year, and the DD 13, presented this year. This new market trend will have implications for buyers as well as manufacturers. Interesting reading from Transport Topics.
5 December 2008: The US EPA signed a final rule to require onboard diagnostic systems (OBD) on 2010 and later highway heavy-duty engines [more ...]
28 November 2008: Crankcase Ventilation—new Technology Guide paper covers crankcase blowby emissions and crankcase ventilation systems.
19 November 2008: Updated Technology Guide papers: Emission Formation in Diesel Engines, Combustion in Diesel Engines, Idling Emissions.
17 November 2008: The Engine Manufacturers Association developed consumption estimates for urea solution (diesel exhaust fluid, DEF) by US and Canadian onroad commercial vehicles from 2010 to 2019. In 2010, 54.6 million gallons of DEF will be used. By 2019, the number will increase to 1.34 billion gallons. The data was compiled from engine manufacturers’ confidential DEF consumption estimates, which were based on engine sales forecasts, vehicle miles traveled estimates, and DEF dosing rates.
14 November 2008: Cities from Beijing to New Delhi are getting darker due to the effects of man-made atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs), concludes a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme [press release | summary report]. The brown clouds—the result of burning of fossil fuels and biomass—are in some cases and regions aggravating the impacts of greenhouse gas-induced climate change. The cloud is also having impacts on air quality and agriculture in Asia increasing risks to human health and food production for three billion people.
Diesel Engine & Emissions
Diesel engine is the most efficient power plant among all known types of internal combustion engines. Heavy trucks, urban buses, and industrial equipment are powered almost exclusively by diesel engines all over the world. In Europe, diesel powered cars have been increasingly popular. The diesel engine is a major candidate to become the power plant of the future. Before that happens, however, further progress in diesel emission control is needed.
Internal combustion engines are significant contributors to air pollution, which has a damaging impact on our health and the environment and is suspected to cause global climate changes. Environmental benefits of diesels, such as low greenhouse gas emissions, are balanced by growing concerns with emission of nitrogen oxides and diesel particulates. Increasingly tighter environmental regulations worldwide call for advanced emission controls and near-zero diesel emission levels in the years to come.
DieselNet, the only information service exclusively devoted to engines and emissions, is the internet forum for the exchange of technical and business information on engines, emissions, emission control, and all related issues which, hopefully, will contribute to the development of the clean diesel engine of the future.