Emission comparison of urban bus engine fueled with diesel oil and ‘biodiesel’ blend

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 327; no. 1; pp. 147 - 162
• Main Authors: Turrio-Baldassarri, Luigi, Battistelli, Chiara L, Conti, Luigi, Crebelli, Riccardo, De Berardis, Barbara, Iamiceli, Anna Laura, Gambino, Michele, Iannaccone, Sabato
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 05-07-2004; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Biodiesel emissions; Canola Oil; Chemical Fractionation; Chromatography, Gas; Diesel emissions; Diesel exhaust mutagenicity; Exact sciences and technology; Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; Formaldehyde - analysis; Gasoline - analysis; Heavy duty engine; Italy; Linear Models; Microscopy, Electron; Microsomes; Motor Vehicles; Mutagenicity Tests; Particle Size; Plant Oils - analysis; Pollution; Pollution sources. Measurement results; Polycyclic aromatic compounds; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - analysis; Salmonella typhimurium; Salmonella typhimurium - genetics; Transports; Vehicle Emissions - analysis; Italy; Europe; Heavy duty engine; Polycyclic aromatic compounds; Diesel emissions; Diesel exhaust mutagenicity; Biodiesel emissions; Nitro compound; Diesel fuel; Toxicity; Troposphere; Biofuel; Motor vehicle; Urban area; Mutagen; Salmonella typhimurium; Bacteria; Pollution abatement; Emission measure; Organic compounds; Enterobacteriaceae; Bus; Hydrocarbon; Aldehyde; Polycyclic aromatic compound; Ketone; Vertebrata; Particle size distribution; Mammalia; Alternative motor fuel; Aerosols; Air pollution; Road traffic; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2003.10.033

The chemical and toxicological characteristics of emissions from an urban bus engine fueled with diesel and biodiesel blend were studied. Exhaust gases were produced by a turbocharged EURO 2 heavy-duty diesel engine, operating in steady-state conditions on the European test 13 mode cycle (ECE R49). Regulated and unregulated pollutants, such as carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrated derivatives (nitro-PAHs), carbonyl compounds and light aromatic hydrocarbons were quantified. Mutagenicity of the emissions was evaluated by the Salmonella typhimurium/mammalian microsome assay. The effect of the fuels under study on the size distribution of particulate matter (PM) was also evaluated. The use of biodiesel blend seems to result in small reductions of emissions of most of the aromatic and polyaromatic compounds; these differences, however, have no statistical significance at 95% confidence level. Formaldehyde, on the other hand, has a statistically significant increase of 18% with biodiesel blend. In vitro toxicological assays show an overall similar mutagenic potency and genotoxic profile for diesel and biodiesel blend emissions. The electron microscopy analysis indicates that PM for both fuels has the same chemical composition, morphology, shape and granulometric spectrum, with most of the particles in the range 0.06–0.3 μm.