Skip to main content

Engine emissions analyser improves emissions testing capability

An advanced FTIR analyser installed at Intertek’s engine test facility in Milton Keynes is enabling engineers to improve the quality of their tests on the gaseous components of engine exhaust emissions. The gas analyser manufactured by Gasmet Technologies and installed by their UK subsidiary, Quantitech, measures multiple organic and inorganic components simultaneously from a large library of compounds, enabling Intertek’s engineers to quickly and easily change the measured compounds; to change the fuel
June 1, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
An advanced FTIR analyser installed at Intertek’s engine test facility in Milton Keynes is enabling engineers to improve the quality of their tests on the gaseous components of engine exhaust emissions.

The gas analyser manufactured by Gasmet Technologies and installed by their UK subsidiary, Quantitech, measures multiple organic and inorganic components simultaneously from a large library of compounds, enabling Intertek’s engineers to quickly and easily change the measured compounds; to change the fuel type or cycle conditions, and to see the impact on the emitted gases. The FTIR gas analyser is also highly portable so that it can be employed in any of the test cells at Intertek.

Intertek’s engine test facility, which accommodates every type of motor vehicle engine covering all fuel types and including both hybrid and battery powered vehicles, provides its customers with the ability to conduct research on prototype engines and evaluate developments in engine technology. Intertek works with vehicle manufacturers, tier suppliers and high performance driveline development businesses.

The work in the test cells is complemented by Intertek’s ability to conduct on-road emissions testing using its state of the art Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) to measure Real World Driving Emissions (RDE).

Intertek test engineer Cory Graham said: “Vehicle manufacturers are focused on improving both the performance and the emissions of their vehicles. FTIR provides a greater insight into exhaust emissions so that Intertek can assist manufacturers with their goals of improving air quality and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.”

Most recently the FTIR has been deployed in one of Intertek’s most sophisticated cells, which hosts a complete drive line including an engine, a gearbox and also a rig, which creates a complete ‘virtual’ car.

The regulatory tests that are undertaken on vehicles to check their emissions against international standards, have recently been under the spotlight, and the latest developments in the European Union will result in a move to vehicle emissions testing while the car is being driven (RDE) and this is now provided by Intertek.

Related Content

  • Car emissions campaigners turn sights on Renault
    November 27, 2015
    Renault's flagship Espace minivan released toxic diesel emissions 25 times over legal limits in a Swiss study, despite complying with EU tests carried out at unrealistically low engine temperatures, a German environmental group said this week. According to Reuters, the tests commissioned by the DUH group, which have not been independently verified, follow Volkswagen's admission that it used illegal ‘defeat devices’ to cheat diesel emission regulations. In a statement, Renault said it contested the fin
  • FTA, BMW support UK government funding for green cars
    April 30, 2014
    The UK government has announced plans to invest US$840 million ultra-low emission vehicle industry. It is hoped that this will help drivers both afford and feel confident about using electric cars. Announcing the funding during a visit to the Transport Research Laboratory, Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister said: “Owning an electric car is no longer a dream or an inconvenience. Manufacturers are turning to this new technology to help motorists make their everyday journeys green and clean.”
  • GE researchers developing at-home refuelling station for NG vehicles
    July 20, 2012
    In what could help fuel widespread adoption of natural gas-powered (NG) vehicles in the US and globally, GE researchers, in partnership with Chart Industries and scientists at the University of Missouri, have been awarded a programme through Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) to develop an affordable at-home refuelling station that would meet ARPA-E’s target of $500 per station and reduce re-fuelling times from 5-8 hours to less than 1 hour. Natural gas prices are at an all-time low and t
  • Milton Keynes to trial wirelessly charged electric buses
    September 26, 2012
    In an initiative to enable the quieter, cleaner future of public transport in Milton Keynes, UK, eight organisations led by a subsidiary of Mitsui Europe ("Mitsui") have agreed a five-year collaboration committing to the replacement of diesel buses with their all-electric counterparts on one of the main bus routes in the city by summer 2013. The trial, which could reduce bus running costs by between US$19,500 and US$23,000 per year, is a partnership between Mitsui subsidiary eFleet Integrated Service, Milto