Incorporating vehicle portable emissions measurement systems into the classroom

摘要: Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS) have emerged as a popular tool for measuring the real-world activity, energy use, and emissions of a wide variety of vehicles. PEMS are incorporated as a laboratory experience in courses CE 476/576 Air Pollution Control and CE 479/579 Air Quality, both of which include undergraduates (mostly seniors) and graduate students. During Fall 2010, the process for incorporating PEMS into CE 476/576 was significantly expanded to include training sessions for graduate assistants and a field measurement campaign involving the class. Graduate assistants were trained regarding calibration and operation of the PEMS, data quality assurance, and data analysis, which have been codified in step-by-step format. Students in CE 476/576 volunteered 14 vehicles, including two hybrid electric vehicles, for data collection in a class of 24 students. In spring 2011, students in CE 479/579 volunteered. For each vehicle, a team was organized that included a driver, navigator, and PEMS technician, all three of whom rode in the vehicle, plus a data analyst assigned to process data from the vehicle. The driver and navigator were typically students enrolled in the course. Each vehicle was driven on four roundtrip routes that were selected, based on previous research, to enable quantification of emissions under a wide range of vehicle specific power (VSP). For each vehicle, a summary of test conditions, quality assurance results, driving cycles, and modal fuel use and emission rates are developed by the graduate assistants and provided to the class for use in a homework assignment. In addition to providing an …