Evaluation and comparison of portable emissions measurement systems and federal reference methods for emissions from a back-up generator and a diesel truck operated on a chassis dynamometer

There is considerable interest in portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) for emission inventory and regulatory applications. For this study, four commercial PEMS were compared with a Federal Reference Method (FRM) for measuring emissions from a back-up generator (BUG) over steady-state loads and a diesel truck on transient and steady-state chassis dynamometer tests. The agreement between the PEMS and the FRM varied depending on the pollutant and the particular PEMS tested for both the BUG and chassis dynamometer testing. The best performing PEMS for both the BUG and chassis testing was within approximately 12% for NOx of the FRM. For the BUG testing, several PEMS showed agreement with the FRM within approximately 5% for CO2. For the chassis dynamometer testing, the best PEMS showed agreement typically within approximately 5% for CO2. PM measurements for the BUG testing were low compared to the FRM, with the best measurements approximately 20% lower. For the chassis testing, two PM PEMS showed a good correlation but a high bias, while the correlation was worse for the other two PEMS. For each emissions component, some PEMS under different test conditions showed considerably larger deviations than those for the best performing PEMS.