Impacts of a nanosized ceria additive on diesel engine emissions of particulate and gaseous pollutants.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Fuel additives incorporating nanosized ceria have been increasingly used in diesel engines as combustion promoters. However, few studies have assessed the impact of these nanotechnology-based additives on pollutant emissions. Here, we systematically compare emission rates of particulate and gaseous pollutants from a single-cylinder, four-cycle diesel engine using fuel mixes containing nanoceria of varying concentrations. The test fuels were made by adding different amounts of a commercial fuel additive Envirox into an ultralow-sulfur diesel fuel at 0 (base fuel), 0.1-, 1-, and 10-fold the manufacturer-recommended concentration of 0.5 mL Envirox per liter of fuel. The addition of Envirox resulted in ceria-concentration-dependent emission reductions of CO2, CO, total particulate mass, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, and several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These reductions at the manufacturer-recommended doping concentration, however, were accompanied by a substantial increase of certain other air pollutants, specifically the number of ultrafine particles (+32%), NO(x) (+9.3%), and the particle-phase benzo[a]pyrene toxic equivalence quotient (+35%). Increasing fuel ceria concentrations also led to decreases in the size of emitted particles. Given health concerns related to ultrafine particles and NO(x), our findings call for additional studies to further evaluate health risks associated with the use of nanoceria additives in various engines under various operating conditions.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Zhang, J; Nazarenko, Y; Zhang, L; Calderon, L; Lee, K-B; Garfunkel, E; Schwander, S; Tetley, TD; Chung, KF; Porter, AE; Ryan, M; Kipen, H; Lioy, PJ; Mainelis, G

Published Date

  • November 2013

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 47 / 22

Start / End Page

  • 13077 - 13085

PubMed ID

  • 24144266

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC4066369

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1520-5851

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0013-936X

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1021/es402140u

Language

  • eng