Summary of the PEMs4Nano results

Particle technology

1. The partners have developed three sub-23 nm particle measurement devices (two were originally planned): one laboratory system and two mobile devices.
2. The catalytic stripper was optimized to have >60% penetration efficiency at a particle size of 8 nm (beyond the expectation of 50% at 10 nm), and a removal efficiency of the semi-volatiles of >99% for tetracontane particles.
3. The new technology was validated using three configurations: chassis dyno tests with equipment measuring at the tailpipe, chassis dyno tests with equipment at the CVS tunnel, and real road tests. The results show that sub-23 nm particles are mainly generated at the engine start and during acceleration phases.
4. The repeatability of all three devices is within the current legislative limit: there is a high consistency between different RDE testtesttests and a good repeatability and the differences are between 15% and 35% (current legislative limit = 50%).
5. As planned, the new sub-23nm lab and on-board systems can be applied and handled as the established PN23 measurement systems.
6. The technology is currently being evaluated by JRC and (from a technical perspective) is ready to be commercialized.

Particle characterization

1. For the first time, using chemical composition analysis and statistical component analysis, it was possible to identify key molecular markers and discriminate particles by source, size and engine regime.
2. Particles were identified according to gasoline-specific bonds, lubricant specific bonds and engine-specific bonds. A large amount of information has been collected, that feeds into the model-guided application.
3. The online aerodynamic mass mobility measurements, together with the offline morphology structure composition analysis, clearly and unambiguously showed the effectiveness of the catalytic stripper.
4. The experimental methodology that was developed by ULille in PEMs4Nano for characterizing nanoparticles is now recognized nationally and internationally.

Model-guided application

1. From the beginning of the exhaust aftertreatment running through the catalyst and through the silencers, the particle formation was modeled according to size distribution and particle number concentrations.
2. For the first time, the particle number and volatiles can be calculated as a function of drive cycles on a vehicle level.

Dissemination and exploitation

1. The PEMs4Nano consortium participated in 47 conferences, including e.g. major international aerosol meetings and the TRA2018 and TRA2020 meetings.
2. 7 peer-reviewed articles have been published, and 5 more are under review.
3. The project was highly visible, with 2 articles making it to the journal cover.
4. It has won 4 prizes, including the Trojan Horse award at the ETH Particle Meeting 2019, a paper selected as one of the best papers at the SAE 2019 conference, and the Prix Jean Bricard 2020 prize.
5. A patent on a semi-volatile mass detector was filed.