Modal Emissions Model for Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles

There have been significant improvements in recent years in transportation and emissions modeling to allow better evaluations of transportation operational effects and associated vehicle emissions. In particular, instantaneous or modal emissions models have been developed for a variety of light-duty vehicles. To date, most of the effort has focused primarily on developing these models for light-duty vehicles with less effort devoted to heavy-duty diesel (HDD) vehicles. Although HDD vehicles currently make up only a fraction of the total vehicle population, they are major contributors to the emissions inventory. A description is provided of an HDD truck model that is part of a larger comprehensive modal emissions modeling (CMEM) program developed at the University of California (UC), Riverside. Several HDD truck submodels have been developed in the CMEM framework, each corresponding to a distinctive vehicle-technology category. The developed models use a parameterized physical approach in which the entire emission process is broken down into different components that correspond to physical phenomena associated with vehicle operation and emission production. A variety of trucks were extensively tested under a wide range of operating conditions at UC Riverside's Mobile Emissions Research Laboratory. The collected data were then used to calibrate the HDD models. Particular care was taken to investigate and implement the effects of varying grade and the use of variable fuel injection strategies. Results show good estimates for fuel use and the regulated emission species including nitrogen oxides, one of the key targets for HDD vehicles.