Portable emissions measurement system
The European Commission introduced PEMS as a mandatory requirement for light-duty vehicle type approval in 2016 by amending the regulation that was established in 2007.
[2][3] The first commercially available device was invented by Michal Vojtisek-Lom,[4] and developed by David Miller of Clean Air Technologies International (CATI) Inc. in Buffalo, New York in 1999.
[5] David W. Miller, who co-founded CATI, first coined the phrase "Portable Emissions Measurement System" and "PEMS" when working on a 2000 New York City Metropolitan Transportation Agency bus project with Dr. Thomas Lanni of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,[6] as a short-hand description of the new device.
Other governmental groups and universities soon followed, and quickly began to use the equipment due to its balance of accuracy, low cost, light weight, and availability.
From 1999 through 2004, research groups such as Virginia Tech,[7] Penn State, and Texas A&M Transportation Institute,[8] Texas Southern University and others began to use PEMS in border crossing projects, roadway evaluations, traffic control methods, before-and-after scenarios,[clarification needed] and ferries, planes, and off-road vehicles, to explore what was possible outside of a lab environment.
[18] Because the law of large numbers will create a convergence of results, it means that repeatability, predictability, and accuracy are enhanced, while simultaneously reducing the overall cost of the testing.
All the previously listed findings were demonstrated; in addition, it was noticed that extended idling of engines can have a significant impact on the emissions during subsequent operation.
Such data set can be readily used for developing emissions inventories, as well as to evaluate various improvements in engines, fuels, exhaust after-treatment and other areas.
[19] It is expected[20] that a variety of on-board systems will be designed, ranging from bread-box sized[21][22] PEMS to instrumented trailers towed behind the tested truck.
During testing, portable emissions systems could attach extensions of the tailpipe, add lines and cables outside the vehicle, carry lead-acid batteries in the passenger compartment, have hot components accessible to bystanders, block emergency exits, interfere with the driver, or have loose components that could be caught in moving parts.
Instead, sealed lead-acid batteries, fuel cells and generators have been used as external power sources, though they may add other hazards during driving.
Any restrictions on transport of hazardous materials (i.e.Flame ionization detector (FID) fuel or calibration gases) need to be taken into the account.
[24][25] Under a small grant from the International Council on Clean Transportation (icct), Daniel K Carder of West Virginia University (WVU) uncovered on-board software "cheats" that VW had installed on some diesel passenger vehicles (Dieselgate scandal).
Overview of integrated PEMS (iPEMS) development In response to Dieselgate, the "Real Driving Emissions" (RDE) standard has been developed in the European Union (EU) which has, in turn, increased the demand for smaller, lighter, more portable, less expensive and integrated PEMS[26] equipment kits.
