Fast automotive diesel exhaust measurement using quantum cascade lasers

Step by step, US and European legislations enforce the further reduction of atmospheric pollution caused by automotive exhaust emissions. This is pushing automotive development worldwide. Fuel efficient diesel engines with SCRtechnology can impede NO 2 -emission by reduction with NH 3 down to the ppm range. To meet the very low emission limits of the Euro6 resp. US NLEV (National Low Emission Vehicle) regulations, automotive manufacturers have to optimize continuously all phases of engine operation and corresponding catalytic converters. Especially nonstationary operation holds a high potential for optimizing gasoline consumption and further reducing of pollutant emissions. Test equipment has to cope with demanding sensitivity and speed requirements. In the past Fraunhofer IPM has developed a fast emission analyzer called DEGAS (Dynamic Exhaust Gas Analyzer System), based on cryogenically cooled lead salt lasers. These systems have been used at Volkswagen AG‘s test benches for a decade. Recently, IPM has developed DEGAS-Next which is based on cw quantum cascade lasers and thermoelectrically cooled detectors. The system is capable to measure three gas components (i.e. NO, NO 2 , NH 3 ) in two channels with a time resolution of 20 ms and 1 ppm detection limits. We shall present test data and a comparison with fast FTIR measurements.