Development of South African vehicle emission factors

Abstract

There are numerous compounds present in vehicular exhaust emissions which are of relevance in terms of potential impacts on human health and the environment. The impact of vehicle emissions on air quality is generally estimated from emission factors for each pollutant, which have been derived from monitoring campaigns in Europe and the USA. In this study, direct exhaust emission monitoring was performed on 58 diesel and 78 petrol passenger vehicles in both idling and accelerated modes. South African petrol passenger vehicle emission factors were calculated from this data and vehicle fuel consumption specifications, and were found to be 19.7 g.l-1 (CO, idling conditions); 19.1 g.l-1 (CO, 2 000 rpm conditions); 2.08 g.l-1 (HCs, idling conditions); and 1.98 g.l-1 (HCs, 2 000 rpm conditions).