The effects of biodiesel blends on real-world carbonyl emissions from diesel trucks

This work assessed the effects of biodiesel on carbonyl emissions from diesel trucks. Biodiesel converted from waste cooking oil was employed and mixed with commercial fossil diesel to produce four blends: B0 (pure conventional diesel fuel), B5 (5% v/v biodiesel), B20 (20% v/v biodiesel) and B100 (pure biodiesel). Four diesel trucks were tested under real-world conditions using a portable emissions measurement system, including one China III light-duty diesel truck (LDDT), one China IV LDDT, one China III heavy-duty diesel truck (HDDT) and one China IV HDDT. A driving cycle including highway (HW) and non-highway (NHW) driving conditions was employed and carbonyls were sampled using 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine cartridges and analyzed via high performance liquid chromatography. Seven carbonyl compounds were detected, and formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone and butyraldehyde were the primary carbonyls. Total carbonyl emissions from the China III LDDT, China III HDDT and China IV HDDT vehicles with selective catalytic reduction decreased monotonically with increases in the biodiesel proportion, while the China IV LDDT with a particle oxidation catalyst system showed an increasing trend. With increases in the biodiesel proportions, complementary variations were observed in the proportions of formaldehyde and butyraldehyde obtained using the China III LDDT, China IV LDDT and China III HDDT vehicles. However, in the case of the China IV HDDT trials, the formaldehyde and acetaldehyde emissions exhibited complementary variations. Under different driving conditions, the effects of adding biodiesel on carbonyl emission factors were different. In China III LDDT trials, biodiesel reduced carbonyl emissions to a greater extent under HW conditions, but the opposite occurred in China III HDDT tests. Using the China IV LDDT vehicle, the emission factors did not increase as much during HW trials compared with NHW trials when the B5 and B20 fuels were used, but were significantly higher than the NHW values when pure biodiesel was employed. In China III LDDT data, the proportions of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and butyraldehyde showed opposite variations under the two driving conditions. Using the China IV LDDT vehicle, a significant increase in formaldehyde and decrease in butyraldehyde were found during HW trials, but not NHW trials. Ozone formation potentials were obtained from carbonyls emission factors using the maximum incremental reactivity method and their variations were similar to those of the carbonyl emission factors.