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

  • Hybrid and EVs growth impact on traction motors predicted by Frost & Sullivan
    May 17, 2012
    Electrification in vehicles is a key trend in the automotive industry. The increase in electric components within vehicles is boosting the market for traction motors and Frost & Sullivan says it anticipates the European traction motor market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50 per cent for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Permanent magnet motors are expected to dominate the market by virtue of their performance and efficiency. However, the growing concern over t
  • EVs: Time for a rethink
    December 14, 2021
    Given a growing body of evidence that EVs are not the clean, green machines they are made out to be, Andrew Bunn suggests they can only be part of the puzzle – not the answer to environmental problems
  • LiDAR sets its sights on future problems
    February 23, 2017
    AAdvances in LiDAR are helping transport authorities improve services and identify potential problem areas, as geospatial technology expert Dr Neil Slatcher explains. The effects of climate change on the transport infrastructure have long been a cause of concern within the transportation sector - and not only on the structures themselves but also on the surrounding areas. This year, those concerns have become reality with landslides, structural collapses and surfacing issues impacting services across the wo
  • Electric vehicles in construction are the future, say researchers
    December 20, 2016
    The industrial and commercial sector is the largest part of the electric vehicle value market and that will continue to be the case according to analysis in the IDTechEx report, Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles 2017-2027. Buses are the largest part of that and they are mainly made in China for China, where typical orders are ten times the size of orders elsewhere. Less dramatically, construction, mining and agriculture do not see 70 per cent grants for EV versions yet they are steadily becomin