EP1989532A1 - Procédé et système de télémesure d'émissions - Google Patents

Procédé et système de télémesure d'émissions

Info

Publication number
EP1989532A1
EP1989532A1 EP06791027A EP06791027A EP1989532A1 EP 1989532 A1 EP1989532 A1 EP 1989532A1 EP 06791027 A EP06791027 A EP 06791027A EP 06791027 A EP06791027 A EP 06791027A EP 1989532 A1 EP1989532 A1 EP 1989532A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
vehicle
gas
emission
radiation
detection unit
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP06791027A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Waiming Luk
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mutual Sky Tech Ltd
Original Assignee
DPC Tech Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
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First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=36441355&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=EP1989532(A1) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Application filed by DPC Tech Ltd filed Critical DPC Tech Ltd
Publication of EP1989532A1 publication Critical patent/EP1989532A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/17—Systems in which incident light is modified in accordance with the properties of the material investigated
    • G01N21/25—Colour; Spectral properties, i.e. comparison of effect of material on the light at two or more different wavelengths or wavelength bands
    • G01N21/31—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/17—Systems in which incident light is modified in accordance with the properties of the material investigated
    • G01N21/25—Colour; Spectral properties, i.e. comparison of effect of material on the light at two or more different wavelengths or wavelength bands
    • G01N21/31—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry
    • G01N21/33—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry using ultraviolet light
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/17—Systems in which incident light is modified in accordance with the properties of the material investigated
    • G01N21/25—Colour; Spectral properties, i.e. comparison of effect of material on the light at two or more different wavelengths or wavelength bands
    • G01N21/31—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry
    • G01N21/35—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry using infrared light
    • G01N21/3504—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry using infrared light for analysing gases, e.g. multi-gas analysis

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to remote exhaust emissions analysis, more particularly to methods and systems for remote exhaust emissions measuring.
  • the exhaust emissions from a vehicle may be detected and characterized by a remote sensing system, wherein a rotating device, such as a reflecting wheel or a movable filter is incorporated for allowing one or more detectors to receive a beam with different wavelength bands passing through the emission plume, whereby various gas components of the plume can be analyzed and monitored.
  • a rotating device such as a reflecting wheel or a movable filter
  • Such a remote sensing system is disclosed in US 5,210,702, in which a collimated beam emitted from a radiation source passes through the exhaust plume of a vehicle and is reflected from an adjustable mirror onto a reflecting wheel therein. The beam is then reflected therefrom to the focusing mirrors thereof and in turn directed at a plurality of detectors through the respective filters.
  • a beam emitted from a radiation source passes through an emission plume of a vehicle.
  • the beam may optionally be focused on a detector by a lens.
  • the light beam also passes through a set of moveable filters before it impinges on the detector.
  • the beam may optionally be focused on a detector by a lens via reflection off of one or more of a moveable set of reflective filters, which may reflect only the wavelengths of specific detection bands of radiation for detection of different components of the vehicle emission plume.
  • the moveable set of filters may comprise a rotating filter wheel with filters mounted on the wheel.
  • Such filter wheel is mounted for rotation about its axis.
  • Various filters are mounted on the filter wheel; thereby the filter wheel may be rotated on its axis to align different filters with a single detector at different times.
  • Each filter permits only a specific detection band of radiation to reach the detector by transmission or reflection.
  • Each detection band is centered on a wavelength of radiation that is characteristic of the absorption pattern of a specific component of the vehicle emission.
  • Each filter on the wheel passes a detection band of radiation which corresponds to a specific vehicle emission component to be detected. The wheel and therefore the filters, rotate so that multiple vehicle emission components may be sequentially detected and analyzed using a single detector.
  • these systems can only receive a single response at each time instant, thereby a time lapse (Dt) exists between the responses for different gases components.
  • Dt time lapse
  • HC hydrocarbons
  • CO2 carbon dioxide
  • SO2 instable gas components
  • SO2 which tends to be difficult to measure with these systems of prior art due to the rapid changing character thereof, for example, SO 2 might easily and quickly react with water and atmospheric oxygen to form sulfuric acid during such a time lapse.
  • Emission limits of Euro 3 are CO 2.3 g/km, HC 0.20 g/km, NO x 0.15g/km and the same of the Euro 4 are CO 1.0 g/km, HC 0.10g/km and NO x 0.8g/km.
  • the limits for the 10-15 mode test procedure are CO 2.1-2.7 g/km, HC 0.25-0.39 g/km NO x 0.25-0.48 g/km. The new limit introduced will drop these figures to CO 0.67 g/km, HC 0.08g/km and NO x .
  • On Board Diagnostic (OBD) systems are widely employed in many modern vehicles to detect malfunctions of various components therein and provide a warning signal to the driver normally in the form of a warning light. However such alarms can be ignored or the warning system will fail to operate but the vehicle will still operate seeming without any change.
  • OBD On Board Diagnostic
  • Modern vehicles comprise a three way catalytic converter with closed loop control.
  • the Engine Control Unit (ECU) also known as Engine Management System (EMS) of the vehicle governs the air-fuel ratio to achieve the ideal stoichiometric ratio.
  • ECU Engine Control Unit
  • EMS Engine Management System
  • the stoichiometric air/fuel mixture is approximately 14.7 times the mass of air to fuel, i.e., 14.7kg of air will burn ideally with 1kg of fuel.
  • the ECU will monitor air intake temperature, pressure, air flow, and numerous other sensors to achieve stoichiometric combustion.
  • a small sensor (lambda sensor or O 2 sensor) inserted into the exhaust system of the engine will measure the concentration of oxygen remaining in the exhaust gas to allow the ECU to control the efficiency of the combustion process in the engine.
  • the ECU Whilst the vehicle engine is running under the closed loop control system the ECU will adjust automatically the quantity of fuel injected into each cylinder of engine with respect to the engine's RPM and the position of the gas pedal or throttle. To achieve stoichiometric combustion, the ECU may have to adjust the fuel intake depending on whether the engine runs rich ( ⁇ ⁇ 1) or lean ( ⁇ > 1). As the lambda sensor updates the ECU typically every 0.8 second whereby there is a possibility that the engine is not being run within the correct ⁇ value in-between each of 0.8 second interval during which the engine may have had more or less than 40 complete cycles if it runs at 3000 RPM.
  • an ECU program may allow the vehicle to be run in open loop mode under hard acceleration (i.e. to provide extra fuel to help prevent hesitation under acceleration) which may produce higher emissions.
  • remote sensing systems in operation have to finish the measurement of a vehicle typically within 0.7 second due to the very short time that the emission or the plume can be measured after the vehicle has passed the system.
  • Such remote sensing systems work well with remote sensing surveys as many cars are evaluated together to obtain a trend of the vehicle fleet emissions being measured.
  • the remote exhaust emission sensing devices of prior art require periodical calibration during operation.
  • the calibration will be carried out after completion of system setup and will also be required every one to two hours thereafter whereby ensuring that the readings obtained to be fallen into a specific range, if not, an adjustment can be correspondingly made for ensuring the quality thereof.
  • Some manufacturers will carry out an initial calibration during start up process and then perform a series of calibration checks by spraying calibration gas in front of the device to see if the initial calibration has been deviated from the predetermined level with a tolerance as high as 30%. In practice such calibrations have to take place while there is enough time gap or clear space between each of the vehicles passing by such that the vehicle emissions can be dispersed substantially thereby not interfering with the calibration gas during such calibration checks. If such calibration checks and recalibration of the device cannot be successfully performed as required, the readings taken may be faulty and unusable as the overall gas readings would be severely affected by the emission from the vehicles passing by.
  • the remote exhaust emission sensing systems of prior art might comprise a speed and acceleration unit for measuring the speed and acceleration of the vehicles under test, wherein a number of laser beams separately disposed from each other at a known distance.
  • Such beams may be directed across the road and one or more reflectors can be disposed at either or both sides to reflect the light beams back to a detector at the opposite side of the road.
  • the tyres When motor vehicle is passing by the system, the tyres will cut and interrupt the 1st beam and then the 2nd beam. The time difference therebetween or the time of interruption can be used to calculate the speed and the acceleration of the vehicle.
  • the vehicle Normally the vehicle is presumed to be a pre-specified length and contains only two axles and the front axle tyre and rear axle tyre will produce two time readings for use in the calculation of the speed and acceleration.
  • some problems in obtaining the speed and acceleration readings may arise for those vehicles with 3 or more axles.
  • remote sensing systems of the prior art are normally powered by mains electricity or have the electrical power being supplied from a gasoline or diesel engine generator when working in the field.
  • such generators have a less sophisticated emission control system than that of the vehicles being under test and are very noisy and heavy thereby they have to be placed at a distance from the test site. This also prevents engine emission and engine noise reaching the test site but such engine emission in fact can eventually pollute the test site due to localized climatical changes in wind directions. The exhaust emissions expelled from the engine generator into the background are thus undesirable in measuring emissions of vehicles passing through the system.
  • a power supply system also requires long and heavy power cables to reach the remote sensing test site.
  • Some remote sensing systems have such a generator built into a custom made van, which is very expensive and requires extensive modifications to the van. The parking location of the van will be also restricted as it is not always possible to be parked nearby the testing location of the remote sensing equipment.
  • Another object of the present invention is to enhance the accuracy and certainty of the remote vehicle emissions measurement system by reducing the number of parts and eliminating the need of rotating devices thereof.
  • a further object of the present invention is to allow the multiple responses for various gas components to be received and processed concurrently at any one time instant such that the accuracy thereof can be improved over the same of the prior art.
  • Yet still another object of the present invention is to further enhance the accuracy level of each reading taken by eliminating the unwanted erroneous data obtained in transient mode of the vehicle under test with one or more remote vehicle emissions measurement system according to the present invention.
  • One aspect of the present invention provides a compact remote vehicle emissions measurement system comprising a radiation source for emitting a light beam of a set of predetermined wavelength bands through an emission plume of a vehicle; an adaptable radiation detection unit for receiving the set of predetermined wavelength bands passing through the emission plume; an optional image capture unit for capturing or recording an image of the vehicle passing through the measurement system; an optional speed and acceleration detection unit for detecting the speed and acceleration of the vehicle passing through the measurement system; and a processing unit respectively interconnects with the speed and acceleration detection unit, the image capture unit and the radiation detection unit for analyzing and processing the data collected by the speed and acceleration detection unit, image capture unit and radiation detection unit; wherein the radiation source comprises an infrared source, an ultraviolet source or a combination thereof; the adaptable radiation detection unit comprises one or more detachable and expandable detecting elements for receiving the set of predetermined wavelength bands and producing a plurality of corresponding response concurrently at any one time instant as required; and the processing unit comprises one or more specific software and hardware for calculating the concentrations of various
  • the foregoing system further comprises an embedded power supply unit for elimination of unwanted background pollutants as produced by external gasoline or diesel generators and the deployment of long and heavy power cables thereof.
  • the foregoing system further comprises an embedded wireless communication unit for allowing the system to be conveniently controlled by means of wireless network communication, thus serving as a telemeter that transmits measurement data to a controlling device disposed at a distance.
  • an embedded wireless communication unit for allowing the system to be conveniently controlled by means of wireless network communication, thus serving as a telemeter that transmits measurement data to a controlling device disposed at a distance.
  • the foregoing system further comprises at least two microwave or ultrasonic transceiver for the measurement of speed and acceleration of the vehicles under test and the discrimination of the rear end of vehicles such that a proper picture of which can be taken for further processing.
  • the foregoing system further comprises a green light or green laser source with its wavelength ranging from 515nm to 540nm to detect diesel smoke emission or particulate matter at the size around 532nm.
  • the foregoing system further comprises a small calibration gas chamber disposed within the radiation path and the chamber can always be filled and refilled with new charge of calibration gas for each calibration conducted as required.
  • the foregoing system further comprises one or more reflectors mounted in a manner to allow the radiation from the source to be directed to the radiation detection unit and the one or more detecting elements thereof.
  • each of the one or more detachable and expandable detecting elements can further comprises one or more alternative photodetectors enclosed therein in a compact manner, wherein a band pass filter is provided before each of them for respective wavelength band detection, and thereby forming an array of photodetectors for producing concurrently a plurality of response thereto.
  • the adaptable radiation detection unit can comprise a spectrometer or a photomultiplier tube or the like for producing concurrently a plurality of response.
  • the present invention can measure concurrently many more species of gas at any one time instant, including those instable species such as SO 2 in the UV spectrum, from 205nm to 215nm and from 280nm to 290nm.
  • the other aspect of the present invention provides a method for remote sensing the emissions of a vehicle independent of the transient operation of the ECU, comprising the steps of gathering a predetermined number of data points relative to an emission plume of the vehicle with one or more remote vehicle emissions measurement system, such as the foregoing one.
  • the method further comprises the steps of checking whether there is any transient change between CO and NO ⁇ to determine if the vehicle is in transient mode for the elimination of unwanted erroneous data points; and calculating and presenting the concentrations of various gas components thereof, the relative ratio of one gas component to the others, or the absolute emission values of each of the gas components thereof with remaining data points.
  • the predetermined number of data points might range from 5-100, and shall be normally set at 6-30 while the preferred value is around 20-30.
  • the remote vehicle emissions measurement system of the present invention can be located at roadside for measuring the exhaust emissions directly from a vehicle passing by. There is no need for a cell or chamber in which to gather the emission plume for measuring the concentrations of various gas components thereof. Further, the configuration of the present invention allows the respective emissions of each of the passing by vehicles to be measured instantaneously over a short time span, thereby providing the concentrations thereof in an accurate and practicable manner.
  • Figure 1 illustrates a prior art remote vehicle emissions measuring device.
  • Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a remote vehicle emissions measurement system in accordance with the present invention.
  • Figures 3a-3c illustrate schematic views of the parts of embodiments of a remote vehicle emissions measurement system in accordance with the present invention.
  • FIGS 4a-4b illustrate schematic views of an embodiment of the present invention, in which two remote vehicle emissions measurement system has been employed.
  • Figures 5a-5c illustrate schematic views of a calibration gas chamber of an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates a prior art remote vehicle emissions measuring device, wherein a beam 1 emitted from a radiation source 2 passes through the emissions plume 3 of vehicle 4 and is reflected from a mirror 5 onto a reflecting wheel 6. The beam 1 is in turn reflected from the reflecting wheel 7 to one of a group of mirrors 8; thereby it is then focused and reflected onto the respective detectors 10 through respective filters 9 thereof.
  • a remote vehicle emissions measurement system in accordance with the present invention is illustrated, which can be used to remotely determine components of vehicle emissions and provided at a number of different locations, such as an entrance or exit ramp of a highway or the like. It may be moved to a different location and employed at the new location to sense the same or different components of vehicle emissions as required. It may also be used as a permanent fixing at the roadside, and the data collected as well as the results thereof may be sent to a head office or stored for future analysis.
  • the embodiment comprises a radiation source 21 for emitting a light beam 22 of a set of predetermined wavelength bands through an emission plume 23 of a vehicle 24. It further comprises an adaptable radiation detection unit 25 for receiving the set of predetermined wavelength bands passing through the emission plume 23, wherein the beam 22 can be alternatively converged and intensified by means of a lens 26 before reaching one or more detachable and expandable detecting elements 27 arranged therein; an optional image capture unit 28 for capturing or recording an image of the vehicle 24; an optional speed and acceleration detection unit 29 for detecting the speed and acceleration of the vehicle 24; and a processing unit 30 respectively interconnects with the speed and acceleration detection unit 29, the image capture unit 28 and the radiation detection unit 25 for analyzing and processing the data collected respectively by the units 25, 28, 29.
  • the processing unit 30 can be interconnected with an embedded power supply unit (not shown) and/or an embedded wireless communication unit (not shown), respectively.
  • the radiation source 21 emits electromagnetic radiation for use in the absorption spectroscopy measurement of vehicle exhaust emissions.
  • the source 21 may comprises those readily available in the market, such as an infrared (IR), near infrared (NIR) or mid Infrared (MIR) radiation source that are possibly utilizing a Tungsten / Halogen lamp with wavelengths ranging from 220nm to 2500nm, a Nichrome wire with wavelengths ranging from 750nm to 20,000nm, a Globar with wavelengths ranging from 1200nm to 60,000nm, or a Nernst Glower with wavelengths ranging from 400nm to 20,000nm, in the generation of the beam 22.
  • IR infrared
  • NIR near infrared
  • MIR mid Infrared
  • UV ultraviolet
  • H2 and D2 Lamps with wavelengths ranging from 160nm to 380 nm, or a combination thereof to generate the beam 22.
  • any other similar sources in the market that are not listed above may also be alternatively used in an embodiment of the present invention such that a light beam 22 of a set of predetermined wavelength bands can be generated and emitted through an emission plume 23 of a vehicle 24.
  • the radiation source can alternatively comprises a green light or green laser source with its wavelength ranging from 515nm to 540nm in view of the particulate matter size of a diesel engine vehicle.
  • a CO 2 channel can be incorporated such that the ratio of particulate matter to CO 2 can be used to calculate and correlate the traditional industrial smoke number or the percentage of opacity.
  • the smoke number is one of the measurements for the smoke (carbon-particulate emission, particulates), which is indicated as % opacity or alternatively be presented as k coefficient of light absorption "m-1 , Hartridge Smoke Units "HSU”, Filter Smoke Number "FSN” and mg/m3.
  • the particulate matter can be also measured within the visible light range. This enables the measurement of particulate matter at various different wavelengths whereby the quantities of particulate matter at different sizes can be correspondingly determined.
  • the one or more detachable and expandable detecting elements of the adaptable radiation detection unit 25 can be configured in different manners, as shown in figs. 3a- 3b, for receiving the set of predetermined wavelength bands passed through the emission plume 23 and producing a plurality of corresponding response concurrently at any one time instant as required.
  • each of the one or more detachable and expandable detecting elements 31 can further comprises one or more alternative photodetectors 32, such as photodiodes, enclosed therein in a compact manner, wherein a band pass filter can be provided before each of the photodetectors 32 for respective predetermined wavelength band detection, and thereby forming an array of detecting elements 31 for producing concurrently a plurality of response thereto and no rotating device, such as a reflecting mirror wheel or a movable filter wheel, is required by present invention.
  • each of the detecting elements 31 can enclose a photodetector 32 therein, a plurality of photodetectors 34 can also be enclosed in the same detecting element 33 in a close packing manner as shown in Fig. 3b.
  • the adaptable radiation detection unit 25 can comprise a spectrometer 35, a photomultiplier tube or the like for producing concurrently a plurality of response as shown in Fig. 3c.
  • an appropriately sensitive detector may be used.
  • a lead selenide (PbSe), a mercury cadmium telluride (Hg Cd Te) photodetector (cooled or non-cooled), or linear array of foregoing photodetectors or the like may be used to detect the ambient IR or UV radiation therein.
  • one or more reflectors can be incorporated thereinto, which can be mounted in a manner to allow the radiation from the source to be directed to the adaptable radiation detection unit 25 and the one or more detecting elements 27 thereof.
  • the reflector may comprise a mirror, prism, diffraction grating, beam splitter or the like.
  • the reflectors may be integrated with the radiation detection unit 25. In this case, each of the reflectors may function to split the radiation beam among the one or more detecting elements 27, to focus the radiation beam onto the one or more detecting elements 27 and/or to redirect the radiation beam to other additional detecting elements for detection of a specific gas component.
  • the reflector may also comprise a lateral transfer mirror for reflecting the beam 22 back along a path displaced laterally (or vertically) from the path between the source 21 and the reflector.
  • the reflector will be generally located separately from the radiation detection unit.
  • the primary purpose of such a transfer mirror is to redirect the beam 22 to the radiation detection unit 25.
  • a variety of different transfer mirrors may be employed depending on the spatial relationship of the radiation source 21 , radiation detection unit 25 and the reflector thereof.
  • the image capture unit 28 may comprise a camera, a digital camera or camcorder or the like for capturing or recording an image of the vehicle passing through the measurement system.
  • the image capture unit 28 may record an image of the vehicle license plate or tag, which can be further processed with a suitable data processor to gather some additional relevant information thereof.
  • a suitable data processor for example, local Motor Vehicle Department databases may be accessed to retrieve the make, model type and model year of the vehicle 24 such that the condition and the existence of any specific device or mechanism for use in the engine of the vehicle 24, such as a carburettor, fuel injector, catalytic converter or the like can be taken into account during the further analysis and/or calculation conducted by the processing unit 30 thereof.
  • the speed and acceleration detection unit 29 may comprise an arrangement of laser emitters together with a timing circuitry for arranging multiple laser beams traversing the path of the vehicle 24 at various points in the system. While the vehicle 24 passes through the system, interruptions in the laser beams will be caused and the times or durations at which the beam interrupts occur may be used to calculate the vehicle's speed and acceleration. Other methods of detecting vehicle speed and acceleration may also be used. For example, radar systems, transducers or piezoelectric elements, speed and acceleration detection camera or the like may be placed at various locations in the roadway to monitor the path thereof.
  • the speed and acceleration detection unit 29 may alternatively comprise two microwave or ultrasonic transceivers for respectively transmission of a signal to the drive lane from the roadside and reception of the signal reflected from a vehicle running on the lane, wherein each signal creates a trace which can be overlaid onto the other trace and the peaks of these two traces can be analyzed to determine the changes in speed and acceleration obtained while the vehicle was passing by the system.
  • the speed and acceleration unit 29 of the present invention can eliminate the interference from other vehicles to a vehicle under test in a multilane environment, it enables the remote emission measurements for vehicles or traffic on a multilane road by the deployment of two speed and acceleration detection unit 29 respectively on each side of the road.
  • the speed and acceleration data may be further processed by the processing unit 30 to accurately characterize vehicle operation conditions, such as accelerating or decelerating.
  • vehicle operation conditions such as accelerating or decelerating.
  • Other uses of the speed and acceleration data are also possible. For example, for use in a traffic speed survey at various site locations to help determine whether the speed limits thereof need to be revised for specific roads or areas; for vehicle speed enforcement purposes at different locations by the police; for research purposes to help manufacturers of vehicles determine a specific speed and or acceleration rate at which a vehicle may be producing a very higher emission profile, due to the vehicle emission control going into open loop mode under acceleration and/or the determination of the best optimized vehicle speed to the most optimized emission output of traffic on any specific road or area.
  • the processing unit may comprise one or more specific software and hardware, such as a PC with TCP/IP network connections or the like on which one or more software is running, for analyzing and processing the data collected by the radiation detection unit 25, image capture unit 28, speed and acceleration detection unit 29, thereby calculating the concentrations of various gas components thereof, the relative ratio of one gas component to the others, or the absolute emission values of each of the gas components thereof.
  • the software may be used to calculate the concentrations of various exhaust gas components such as HC, CO 2 , NO x , CO, etc.; the decay rate such as the dissipation in time of the exhaust components; the opacity of the exhaust plume 23, the temperature of the vehicle and the like.
  • software may be used to calculate detected ratios between CO 2 and other exhaust components. Further, the software may also be used to calculate absolute emission values. This may be achieved by reading absolute values worked back from the plume size after the vehicle 24 has passed by the system, taking each gas component reading as the same of an individual gas.
  • the software may further make comparisons to threshold concentration values or emission profiles for characterization of vehicles 24 as high or low emitting vehicles and to ensure the compliance with such predetermined emission standards.
  • the processing unit 30 may further comprise software routines to accomplish other data analysis functions.
  • the vehicle emission data may be checked for running losses, which may typically include emission readings due to fuel system leaks on a vehicle, such as leaky fuel tank filler cap, fuel line, leaking evaporative charcoal canisters, etc.; blow by emissions such as emissions due to other vehicles in the vicinity; or other systematic losses thereof.
  • the processing unit 30 may also include software routines to accomplish various vehicle owner notification processes. For example, a vehicle owner of a vehicle that has been recorded as "clean", namely in compliance with certain predetermined emission levels, may receive notification upon a second recording of "clean". In this case, coordination with local authorities may be arranged to grant the vehicle owners a waiver or pass of local emission certification procedures upon receiving such a clean notification. Likewise, owners of vehicles that fail to meet predetermined emission levels may receive notification requiring the owner to remedy the non-compliance. Other data processing functions are also possible.
  • the remote vehicle emissions measurement system of the present invention is able to meet and exceed the requirements set forth by various countries.
  • the system of present invention will only be limited by the sampling speed of the detecting elements of the detection unit, which can run as quick as 0.05 ms. Such high speed or resolution of the present invention ensures an accurate reading and improved capture rate of vehicles passing through the beam at any speed, more particularly the vehicles moves in higher speed which the prior art devices struggle to capture.
  • the present invention can measure concurrently many more species of gas within a very short duration so that those instable species such as SO 2 can be detected properly before it dissipates into the air.
  • having more than one gas (H 2 O, SO 2 , CO, CO 2 , NO x , NH 3 , HC) to be detected in a concurrent manner rendering the readings obtained therefrom can be further used to eliminate the effect of the ambient humidity and the presence of the other gases in the path, thereby allowing the present invention to be used in all weather. Similarly, this will also help reduce the interference from spectral signal overlapping wavelengths.
  • the remote vehicle emissions measurement system of the present invention can be powered by the embedded power supply unit, which includes a storage battery, such as a 5V, 12V or 24V battery for the elimination of the unwanted background pollutants as produced by previously mentioned conventional gasoline or diesel generators.
  • a storage battery such as a 5V, 12V or 24V battery for the elimination of the unwanted background pollutants as produced by previously mentioned conventional gasoline or diesel generators.
  • the employment of multiples of batteries can ensure continuous power supply as each individual battery can be replaced to guarantee a continuous flow of clean and stable power during operation.
  • alarms in the software can automatically shut the PC and remote sensor system down whenever necessary, such as low in power or low in space, as opposed to generators stalling and a sudden loss of power which can possibly corrupt the PC's hard disk.
  • Using a battery operated system requires no long and heavy power cables and will make setup easier and the choice of location less restrictive. It will run safer and quieter, and is less noticeable by the driver passing by, who in turns will drive "normally”.
  • the remote vehicle emissions measurement system of the present invention can be controlled, by means of the wireless communication unit incorporated into the processing unit or embedded as a standalone unit that employs wireless network communication protocols such as WiFi, WiMAX or bluetooth or the like, under wireless control from a lap-top computer or pocket PC or other PC restricted only by the interface.
  • wireless communication unit may make use of other wireless communication protocols if necessary, for example, GPRS, and those 3G or even 4G protocols such as UMTS, FOMA, WCDMA, CDMA-2000, TD-SCDMA and the like. This reduces the amount of long and heavy cables which are required for other systems to communicate from PC to remote sensor 32.
  • a compact remote vehicle emissions measurement system having several advantages over the same of the prior art. Firstly, it enables the controlling and monitoring of many unmanned remote sensing devices around a district could be performed by a central processing office whereby reducing the labour costs thereof. Secondly, it enables the controlling and monitoring of remote sensors from a covert on site locations without wires leading from the remote sensor to the operator station as it is smaller in size and thus being much easier to be concealed on or within a common road side equipment such as a traffic cone. Therefore, the whole system can be covert and less obstructive to road users and pedestrians alike whereby it can be disposed freely and does not need to be restricted to any specific lane.
  • the deployment of the whole system is also much easier as no long and heavy cables to contend with whereby it is safer for the operator during the road side setup procedures of the system as it requests less time in carrying out the installation work at the road side.
  • the present invention provides a method for remote sensing exhaust emissions without being affected by the transient operation of the ECU. It comprise a step of gathering a predetermined number of data points relative to an emission plume of the vehicle with one or more remote vehicle emissions measurement system, such as the one according to this embodiment. The method further comprises the steps of checking whether there is any transient change between CO and NO x to determine if the vehicle is in transient mode for the elimination of unwanted erroneous data points; and calculating and presenting the concentrations of various gas components thereof, the relative ratio of one gas component to the others, or the absolute emission values of each of the gas components thereof with remaining data points. Wherein the predetermined number of data points ranges from 5-100, and 6-30 may be a better choice while the preferred value is around 20-30.
  • the data points collected can be used for determination of data trend to identify whether a vehicle's ECU is in normal state or in transient mode, i.e. it is switching between a high or low air fuel ratio or in open loop.
  • the use of more than one systems according to this embodiment will further help identifying and ruling out erroneous high readings that are occasionally emitted from clean vehicles and the additional system can also act as a back up for determining if a vehicle is logged as a dirty emitting vehicle. Further, such erroneous high readings will probably be either considered as an error or collected and averaged.
  • carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxide (NO x ) in exhaust emission are opposites of each other by nature, i.e. if NO x is high then CO would be low and vice-versa. If the vehicle were in transient mode then the readings of such two gases would change in opposite direction as the ECU is trying to correct the fuel and air mixture to maximize the efficiency of the engine. Therefore, if there is any trend of changes on the CO, NO x and CO 2 channel, the relevant data can be ignored so as to eliminate the effect of the transient switching of the ECU.
  • the purpose of this calculation procedure is to enhance the accuracy level of each reading taken such that the readings can be adapted for enforcement purposes.
  • the measuring systems according to the present invention may be used for enforcement purposes as required, wherein it can further comprises some enforcement parameters and acceptable tolerances that can be correspondingly determined by the enforcement authorities.
  • Figures 4a-4b illustrate an embodiment of the present invention in which two remote vehicle emissions measurement system has been employed for further enhancement of the accuracy thereof. In general, the employment of just one of such system will be adequate in view of the flexibility of the system according to the present invention, wherein the software and hardware can be adaptively and easily changed and adjusted for detection of any specific gas components in the exhaust emission of a vehicle in a fast and accurate manner.
  • Figs 5a-5c illustrate another embodiment of the present invention, which comprises a small calibration gas chamber 50 disposed within the radiation path for carrying out self calibration as required.
  • the chamber comprises a front 51 and a rear window 52 made of transparent material by which the radiation can be passed through, a gas inlet 53 with a first solenoid valve being connected to a gas supply 54 for injecting the calibration gas thereinto, a gas outlet 55 with a second solenoid valve being connected to an air pump 56 for extracting the calibration gas therefrom.
  • it further comprises a pressure sustaining valve 57 for maintaining the internal pressure of the chamber at a specific level.
  • the first solenoid valve opens and the calibration gas is fed from the gas supply and injected into the chamber. After the completion of the calibration, the first solenoid valve closes while the second solenoid valve opens, and then the calibration gas will be extracted out of the chamber by the air pump.
  • the chamber will be always filled and refilled with a new charge of calibration gas within a predetermined time frame such as 2 minutes for allowing the calibration to be conducted in a faultless way.
  • the configuration of this embodiment will also be able to perform auto audit even as required in heavy traffic.
  • Several governments or authorities require an audit of calibration to be performed during the test for ensuring the accuracy of the system.
  • the system will initially monitor and record the ambient gas value as a reference value. In operation, once a vehicle passes through the system and the ambient gas was found to be diluted to the reference value, the system will trigger a gas release for the audit check.
  • the refillable calibration gas chamber of present invention make use of a fresh and clean calibration gas, which has not been exposed to and degraded by UV light, to conduct the calibration whereby each calibration will remain accurate.
  • a fresh and clean calibration gas which has not been exposed to and degraded by UV light
  • the refillable calibration gas chamber of present invention make use of a fresh and clean calibration gas, which has not been exposed to and degraded by UV light, to conduct the calibration whereby each calibration will remain accurate.
  • the gas contained inside the chamber will be deteriorated by UV radiation, it will be extracted to the atmosphere by the air pump after each calibration and then a new charge of calibration gas will be injected into the chamber from the gas supply right before the next calibration.
  • the gases in the chamber will be undiluted and under a condition of stable pressure and temperature relative to the ambient condition.
  • the calibration gas chamber can further comprise a gas concentration regulator for regulating the concentration of the calibration gas contained therein.
  • the calibration gas chamber might comprise one or more movable side walls capable of back and forth movement whereby changing the volume of the chamber and thus the concentration of the gas therein and such movable side walls can be acted as the gas concentration regulator therefor.
  • the pressure sustaining valve can be replaced by an adjustable pressure regulator to vary the pressure therein while keeping the volume of the chamber unchanged.
  • an adjustable temperature regulator might alternatively be employed as the gas concentration regulator whereby changing the internal temperature of the chamber and thus the concentration of the gas therein.

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Abstract

L'invention porte sur un système de télémesure des émissions de véhicules comportant une source de rayonnement, une unité réglable de détection de rayonnement, et une unité de traitement. La source est d’IR, d’UV ou de leur combinaison, l’unité de détection comporte un ou des détecteurs détachables et expansibles recevant un ensemble de bandes de longueurs d'onde prédéterminées et produisant concurremment un ensemble de réponses à tout moment, et l’unité de traitement comporte un ou des éléments logiciels ou matériels spécifiques calculant la concentration des différents composants gazeux, la teneur relative des différents composants gazeux et les valeurs absolues d’émission des différents composants gazeux de manière précise et pratique.
EP06791027A 2006-01-18 2006-09-18 Procédé et système de télémesure d'émissions Withdrawn EP1989532A1 (fr)

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US75958806P 2006-01-18 2006-01-18
PCT/CN2006/002435 WO2007082426A1 (fr) 2006-01-18 2006-09-18 Procédé et système de télémesure d'émissions

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