Definitive Emissions Data for UK HGVs Confirms Natural Gas Benefits
Emissions Analytics, a specialist in real-world, on-road vehicle emissions measurement and analysis,
covering the European Union and the United States, has successfully completed its part of a three-year,
Innovate UK funded project to help understand the benefits of low-carbon commercial vehicles. The
project covered over 11,374 miles in a total of 34 tests over 246 hours, generating over 2.5 million data
points.
Evaluating heavy duty vehicles retrofitted with a dual-fuel diesel/compressed natural gas (CNG) system
in the trial, the Evaluation of Natural Gas Trucks and Refuelling in Swindon (ENTRIS) project required
Emissions Analytics to provide its expertise and laboratory-grade testing. Carried out in real-world, on-
road conditions, the data captured provided a unique insight into the reality of dual fuel and CNG
conversion systems.
In addition to discovering the ramifications of dual-fuel retrofits, the testing has proven that Portable
Emissions Measurement Systems can be effectively used with heavy duty vehicles over long distances in
order to monitor real, on-road operations.
A total of 55 vehicles were employed in the project, all fitted with systems manufactured by Prins
Autogassytemen BV, a Westport Innovations Inc. company. Emissions Analytics then monitored one of
each vehicle model at regular intervals for the duration of the trial to understand how these converted
vehicles performed under everyday operating conditions.
Recording tailpipe outputs, the standard suite of gases (CO, CO2, NO, NO2 & THCs) were all measured
with a gas analyser, but the scope of the project allowed Emissions Analytics to also employ a Pegasor
Mi2 system to evaluate particulate matter.
Part funded by Innovate UK, ENTRIS was one of several projects under the Low Carbon Truck
Demonstration Trial. Starting in January 2013 and finishing in March 2016, the projects’ consortium
members include three truck operators: Howard Tenens, John Lewis Partnership and Lenham Storage. In
addition, telematics specialist CMS SupaTrak provided the vital link between Emissions Analytic’s data
and the tracking of vehicles as they travelled the country.
Plotting emissions data against position, speed and even altitude, the test used a set route between
Swindon and Manchester. Given the time span of the test, it was also possible to chart any seasonal
effects on the final figures. The wealth of data collected allowed the whole team to understand the
relationship between a vehicle’s behaviour and the specific emissions generated. With the systems
capturing one data point every second, a total of 2.5 million data points were collected and analysed.
In total the trial showed a 6% average reduction in fuel operating costs although this was sensitive to
the changing relative price of diesel and gas. The analysis of the data collected also found that on
average there was a 9% reduction in CO2, along with 16% reduction in NOx emissions and lower NO2.
Methane slip was also identified and the government is funding further investigations into this issue.
https://www.ngvglobal.com/blog/definitive-emissions-data-for-uk-hgvs-confirms-natural-gas-