Durability Demonstration Procedures of Emission Control Devices for Euro 6 Vehicles

The implementation of increasingly demanding vehicle emissions standards fostered the improvement of existing aftertreatment technologies and the development of innovative solutions. However, new vehicle standards are only beneficial if effectively lead to emissions reduction; this implies assuring compliance with emissions limits not only for new registrations but also throughout vehicles’ useful life. With this aim, current legislation introduced emissions durability requirements; alternatively to actual in-use driving, the normative also proposes tailored accelerated aging procedures for PI and CI vehicles (Standard Bench Cycle and Standard Diesel Bench Cycle respectively) or the application of assigned deterioration factors. Whereas the fast aging protocol for vehicles with PI engine had already been successfully applied, the newly introduced approach for CI vehicles fast aging still has to prove its validity. The present report aims at contributing to a deeper understanding of aftertreatment system aging mechanisms and methods in order to assess Euro-6 vehicles durability approach. An overview on the legislative background is given before introducing an investigation on deterioration mechanisms that could critically affect most commonly implemented aftertreatment devices. The current accelerated aging procedure is then presented in greater detail, with focus on differences between gasoline and diesel vehicles approach; differences between European and American fast aging strategies are also discussed. The Standard Diesel Bench Cycle is examined in detail and focus is brought on potential deficiencies to match real diesel aftertreatment system aging mechanisms; open issues are discussed and complemented with the proposal for suitable solutions which are being jointly developed by US Research Institutes and Industries. Finally, a review of deterioration factors currently available for Euro-6 like vehicles is presented, in order to evaluate the variability of performance degradation for latest aftertreatment technologies.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor