Portable HC-Tracker: Development of a Flameless Method for Mobile Hydrocarbon Measurement in Vehicle Exhaust

With the implementation of the Euro 6d-Temp legislation, the measurement of pollutant emissions under real driving conditions (RDE) has been put more into focus. It can be assumed that with the introduction of future emission standards, other components such as unburned hydrocarbons (HC) will be regulated. The demand for a mobile HC measurement forms the basis of this work to develop a suitable principle. In contrast to common measurement systems for determining hydrocarbon concentration such as flame ionisation detectors (FID), the presented principle works without a flame and a hydrogen supply. Through numerical simulations and experiments a prototype based on the patented novel sensor principle was developed as part of a research project. This sensor contains a temperature-controlled glow plug whose temperature is significantly lower than the flame of an FID, but which nevertheless causes ion formation in HC-containing gases, which is measurable and correlates with the HC concentration. First tests with the prototype show reproducible and HC-dependent ion currents. Based on these promising measurements, further research and development is underway to determine the potential of the sensor principle with regard to its suitability as a measurement technique for RDE.