Particulate emissions from a low-speed marine diesel engine

This study presents results from tail pipe emissions of particulate matter from a turbocharged common rail 2-stroke marine diesel engine (4RTX-3 from Wartsila) investigated at various operating conditions and using two different fuels. Size distributions were measured with a SMPS (Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer). A thermodesorber (TD) was applied to remove volatile material. In addition, filter samples were taken for gravimetric and chemical analysis. The mean diameters of the particles ranged between 20-40 nm, which is considerably smaller than the diameter of particles known from 4-stroke diesel engines as used in cars. A TD operated at 400 degrees C evaporated the majority of the particles. The particle mass is dominated by volatile organic material, the fraction of which is significantly higher than for engines in cars. A high nucleation mode was found instead of a pronounced accumulation mode as known from 4-stroke diesel engines.