Z. Chłopek

Comprehensive evaluation of the environmental hazard caused by the operation of automotive vehicles

The paper presents authors’ views about comprehensive evaluation of the environmental hazard caused by the operation of automotive vehicles. Methods of analysing the emissions of environmental pollutants and the energy input at the stage of production and distribution of energy carriers (from the source of obtaining an energy carrier to the fuel tank, “Well-to-Tank,” abbreviated as WtT) and at the stage of vehicle use (from the fuel tank to the vehicle wheel, “Tank-to-Wheel,” abbreviated as TtW) have been described. Results of the research carried out in compliance with the Eco-indicator 99 procedures and with the Swiss Ecological Scarcity Method, also known as the Ecoscarcity or UBP’06 method, have been analysed. In the recapitulation, the authors have criticised the existing methods of assessment of the harmful environmental impact of motorisation and proposed an original system of indicators that would characterise, in terms of pollutant emissions, the energy-related and environmental impacts exerted by motor transport at the stages of the production and distribution of energy carriers and the use of automotive vehicles.

Experimental investigation and comparison of energy consumption of electric and conventional vehicles due to the driving pattern

ABSTRACT In this paper, energy consumption of two light-duty vehicles, battery electric and conventional with an internal combustion engine, was investigated on the basis of chassis dynamometer test results. The sensitivity of energy consumption to various zero-dimensional characteristics of the driving pattern was discussed. The results demonstrated that under dynamic driving conditions, the electric vehicle used on average 64% less energy than the conventional one, even with battery charging efficiency taken into account. Among selected zero-dimensional characteristics, the average velocity and the average absolute value of the product of velocity and acceleration proved to be the best characteristics to describe the energy consumption of vehicles.

A Simulation Method of the Reduction of Nitrogen Oxides Over a Silver Aluminate Catalyst in Static Tests of Combustion Engines

The paper presents a proposition of simulation studies of nitrogen oxide catalytic reduction. The method enables estimating the influence of catalytic reactors on ecological properties of engines in static bench tests (e.g., ECER49, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe [UN/ECE], 2000; Standard No. ISO 8178-4:1996, International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 1996; Merkisz (1998). An algorithm of simulation studies is shown. A model catalytic reactor for selective catalytic reduction is described. Silver aluminate deposited on steel substrate covered with aluminium phosphate is used as a catalyst. Propene is used as a reductant. The results of reactor studies in a chemical lab are presented. A simulation of the influence of catalytic reactor properties on ecological properties of an engine was done. Unitary emission conversion coefficients of nitrogen oxide in a static test ECER49 were determined.