DIY emissions analysis
 

As a techie with an almost Aspergerian desire for measurement, I'd love to be able to do my own emissions measurements and logging, especially on-the-fly. To buy such a system I think is about $6K-- that's what a local tech school paid for theirs. Many of us semi-retired Dads don't have that kind of money in petty cash on a regular basis, so I thought that I would try to put together my own system (at least until Publisher's Clearinghouse shows up at my door with that big, big big check).

Apparently DIY emissions analysis is a very rare topic, so rare that I can't find anything.

"Who will help me plant this wheat?" said the little red rooster.

Oxygen sensors aren't expensive and ought to be straightforward enough to interpret the output.

For diesels, it seems to me that an opacity meter ought to be easy enough to rig-- a chamber with a light and a light meter. I hear green light is favored.

As for NOx, CO, CO2 and HC, I have no clue as of yet-- have yet to read the technical articles.

I'm not looking for EPA or California Air Quality Board level tolerances, although I wouldn't be surprised if I could get them. Does anyone else think that having these measuring abilities would help in ecomodding research?

Even if an idea or strategy doesn't result in FE improvements, if it results in lowered emissions, doesn't cost a lot or hurt fuel economy, it's worth working with or at least taking a closer look at.

Obviously the emissions analysis box-makers aren't going to help me avoid paying them six thousand dollars.... maybe some o' the folks at professional testing labs might have some pointers-- or the bright young people at our institutions of higher learning might have blazed a trail for us already.

E-mails are in order. Maybe even personal phone calls.

Welcome.

You make me wonder what car(s) you're going to subject to your DIY emissions test, and what you will do to improve on them.
For my bikes I did simple things like just smell the exhaust gas, observe the caking on the spark plugs and the like. When in doubt it was dealership time. My cars always ran fine so I never felt the need to test, and with modern cars with ECU's and 3-way cat systems there remains little to test I fear.
On my car I'd expect no gain from this kind of testing, while raising the tire pressure somewhat and installing HIDs and LEDs are surefire ways to get better mpg.

But I agree, I ecomod as a hobby so I have to like what I do. I will make mods that won't pay for themselves if I feel like it, and leave those which would but I don't fancy.
Improving on emissions works for the environment too, not just the wallet. That's eco²modding ;)

My daughter has not yet mastered her walk-bike, and my 5-year old son, who reads, writes, does basic math and studies Japanese tokens and the Greek alphabet (ancient, modern and archaic), is still in his diapers - a true-to-form Asperger... but one day he'll be a mean ecomodder ;)

"These are the days of miracles and wonder
This is the long distance call....." -- Paul Simon

Gad, I remember when long distance calls were expensive! Now we just find out who to contact and call them!

I made a call to the California Air Resources Board and then went to the Consumer Protection people, who sent me to the Bureau of Automotive Repair who sent me to the Engineering & Research Division of Smog Engineering where I talked to "Rocky". He informed me that due to changes in smog testing in California that there was a boatload and a half of obsolete but working 4 gas analyzers that could be had VERY cheaply.

No need to make my own equipment! What a timesaver!

I'll check this out and post a link to any equipment that I find. I got a coupla pennies to rub together here somewhere.

These aren't portable, as far as I know. Portable is what I want, but I'll take what I can get and be real happy that I don't have to re-invent any wheels right now.

I'll still have to rig up an opacity meter for diesel. Seems easy enough as long as I'm satisfied with comparative results for simple experimentation.

I feel blessed by this day's events.

Someone over in the intro thread wrote that I should be concerned about NOx from leaning out fuel.... point well taken. We must get temps down to keep NOx low. I lost a favorite fishing spot in Minnesota to acid rain in the mid-late '70s. The smaller lakes were especially susceptible.

There's another sensor for me, or set of them, I should say, for operating temps of various systems and fluids.

Just call me Doctor Schmience!

{Disclaimer -- Dad is not a real doctor and does not diagnose or claim to cure any medical conditions.}

Arrgh!
 

Arrgh! (Not "ahhrr!" which is pirate-speak)

I am not seeing the cheap and plentiful obsolete emissions analyzers promised by Mr. Rocky of the California smog-monitoring bureaucracy. He did mention another source so I have e-mailed him back inquiring of same.

I do hope that he can come through for us. I would hate to put him on my fecal roster. Them that's there are receiving little enough attention as it is, lately. I could link to a youtube video of me at a hearing of a government agency, but you probably wouldn't want a sunburn and for the paint on your wall across the room to peel off.

Perhaps I should start a thread on the subject of profanity. As this is a "civil" forum with agreements, it might be an interesting exercise in euphemism. Come now, gentlemen, who among us has not uttered a profanely expressive verbal ejaculation upon the occasion of skinning our knuckles when a wrench slips?

!@#$%^&*!!!

Long Live The Memory of George Carlin!

And I'd do well to remind meself of an acronym my Uncle Bob taught me. TANSTAAFL! I can still hold out hope for a gift from the fairy-godmother department.

Opacity Meters / Diesel Smoke Meters
 

An important measuring tool for diesel performance and emissions is the diesel smoke meter or opacity meter. It is a measurement of particulate pollution, a significant problem for us as an urban motive-power-using society.

The more I know, the more inclined I am to admit when I'm ignorant-- but as far as I can tell, an opacity meter is a chamber for diesel exhaust with a light on one side and a light meter on the other.

Light meters became affordable if not cheap in the 1960s and pretty darn accurate in the '80s and '90s.

Right now I have about zero-point-squat idea of what any government standards are for opacity meters, but I do know that we should be able to get before and after readings that would show any significant improvements.

If anyone knows anything about this, please go to the head of the class.

I'll update here as I learn.

what car what system
 

What is it that I want to monitor? Emissions-wise, the usual suspects. CO, C02, HC, NOx, 02, and Opacity for diesels.

I actually have a larger agenda than the family cars. I'll introduce our vehicles and stationary test engines here later. They are to include not only motive-power-wheeled applications but motive-power-marine and power generation as well. With a bit of bloomin' luck I might even be able to get my hands on an aircraft engine for stationary fiddling about with.

bottom line your monitoring of the end result will have little to no effect on FE if the system is operating as designed

That is true, of course.

Please remember that I am of an earlier era and have not gotten quite up to speed yet on all the new-fangled tech. Just this week I've been delving into MAP and MAF sensors. Please also be aware that I'm a control freak. I hope that I've mostly gotten over my desire to control people, but that has probably only exacerbated my desire to understand and control machines and systems.

When I go whole-hog to do something, I guess I may go a little overboard. I read about ICE research and think, "Well, spit! I could do that!"

This is all Dotter's fault. That and my continuing curiosity.

>> there is much to be learned before you spend 1 penny on any test equipment

Yes, this is true, of course. Old Dad is "back in school" and I assure you that old dogs can learn new tricks.

>> I suggest......
>> Navigate to......

Thank you most kindly for your helpful input. Don't hesitate. I need all the help I can get!

then think on it for a while , it will be a journey , a long journey .

Ayup. Based on everything that's come before, I expect so.

The University in NC does emissions testing with a gas analyser and obd2 logging rigged up in vehicles for portable use. I assume they are running the gas analyser on an inverter. They use a separate battery to run the equipment so that it is not loading the system other than the extra weight. I am also looking for a cheap gas analyser, preferably 5-gas to emulate their setup. Texas inspection stations still use 4-gas units, leaving out NOx. I bought a DashDyno for obd2 logging, though I haven't gotten it to log anything to the sd card.
It's surprising to see anyone else interested in emissions testing who isn't directly involved in the industry. I created a gas additive and want to get a handle on what's going on with it before spending the $27k for FTP-75 Stage 1 testing. I was very put off by the attitude of the engineer I talked to at one of the EPA approved facilities in TX, as he was bragging about the test only taking 11 minutes. You have to do 3 before and 3 after tests on 2 vehicles for stage 1, minimum. 2 hours and 12 minutes for $27k... am I in the wrong business?!!!

Howdy Capriciouss!

Seems like for 27K U$D you could buy your own equipment to certify the product!

Been looking more at the diesel side of things the past few days. Quite interesting. One of the new laser smoke meters can be had for about $1100, which of course I do not have. I'll keep looking for cheaper. Would love to be able to afford to buy instead of make-- more time for testing.

Photometers with an accuracy of +/- 0.5% and a sampling rate of twice per second can be had for about a c-note. Choosing a light source (perhaps a skelkwank diode) is the next chore in designing a homebuilt diesel smoke opacity meter. A calibrated scale can be made with known density optical filters.

Not sure whether I should use a smoke chamber or not. If you do, you have to keep a temp of 100C to prevent condensation in the chamber.

Why would I go to the trouble of all this? Gandhi, one of my heroes, said that we should be the change we wish to see in the world. I told you I was a control freak.... and like I said before, my automotive technician daughter got me into this. I'm giving her something that she can use in her own business, which she wants to have instead of working for someone else.

Guess you better throw me in the watering trough for unicorns over in the unicorn corral. I'm sounding kind of new-agey here.

RE: UNC

WVU has the EERL, engine emissions research laboratory. I haven't been to their website, if they have one, yet. I'm sure they must have done some interesting research. I read about their work and it said that they put together some of their own equipment systems from components.

Old Dad's back in school and I wish I had more time for class!

Eerl
 

EERL was the one I was thinking of that has the mobile setup. IIRC the Prof. in charge says it's "Energy in equals .x energy out", which is a good rule of thumb, when you don't consider catalysts. He didn't return my call. The official lines of the EPA and FTC seem to be that gas additives do not improve mileage. That might be because the testing they require is so expensive - not less than $54K to put 2 cars through the FTP-75 tests, Stages 1 & 2 - last time I looked. That cuts out a lot of inventors.

You can closely simulate their testing (sans dyno) simply by using a mobile setup like EERL's. They are using the pistol-grip style probe up the tailpipe, hose run through the car window. The DashDyno will log up to 16 obd2 items, including external GPS (though I'm not sure it does elevation) and has been used by universities in studies. Presumably the gas analysers have a serial out for logging to a laptop or whatever.

Let us know about the opacity meter project progress!

FYI, most of the newer diesels (with SCR systems) have onboard NOx sensors. I'm not sure the exact cost, but they're comparable in technology with an O2 sensor. I see some used ones on eBay for $50:
05 12 GL ml R Class Nox Sensor Brain Module Harness Nock Knock Exhaust | eBay

As far as CO goes, you might be able to modify a CO meter that's used for environmental safety (like near furnaces). I think they're fairly cheap.

You might also be able to do something similar with CO2. I know some industries (like breweries & greenhouses) have little meters for safety, however, I'm not sure if they'd read high enough for exhaust gas.

CO2, however, is one thing you can get quite accurately from fuel consumption because it's a major product of combustion. Same goes for O2 on a diesel.

With these meters you'd have to do something to cool the gas before it gets to the meter, because it likely won't be able to take the heat.

Does anyone else think that it might be a good idea to ask some folks from EERL or CARB to participate here?

I've decided to contact them, in any case. I can invite them here if anyone else is interested. I don't think a few more connections in the world-brain will hurt anything....

Have decided to buy my first piece of automotive test equipment-- an ELM327 OBD-II laptop computer interface. $10 from a top-rated seller on the giant auction website.

The ST1119 IC is said to be better, but only one place I can find sells a finished module and it's $60. I'm not ready to devote a lot of time to a soldering iron if I can avoid it. I know I'll have to, but every piece of equipment I can buy, I will.

Great idea! I had forgotten that some cars had those. Should easily connect to DD's analog input. Very interesting.

That would be GREAT!

I bought an ELM327 USB interface first as well. The software included was good for reading codes, but not logging. Good software for it was about $150.

Then bought a Bluetooth interface to use with the Android Torque app, but it wouldn't connect to the obd2 on my Ford.

Then I bought another BT adapter for $9.99 last month and it would pair with my Archos 101, but not connect with it. AARGH!

That's what I get for trying to "cheap out".

I did figure out how to get the DashDyno to record. It was necessary to create a dyno file and AUTO_REC.sc to get it to record (log) automatically.

The ScanGuage won't log, so it was worth the extra $150 to me.

Elm 327
 

Does the adapter work for you? How's the software? I'd love to find an economical one that works with Torque.

DIY Emissions tester
 

Hello,

I know this is an old post but I thought I would add this as I found this thread while searching for a DIY Emissions Tester. I couldn't find one so I made my own.

I'd post the link to the article, but I am not allowed to post links yet. Anyone still interested?

It is fairly basic but works well enough

Yes, I am!

Although you cannot post a link, you can post the link and "cripple it" so BB code does not recognize it as a link (replace dots with word DOT or something like that)

looking forward to see your work. (And welcome to the forum!)

Me too.

The mods on this site are benevolent, once you are identified as not being a spam bot you'll find your crippled link restored in no time, or your post count artificially raised to 5 so you can post links.

I think I almost reached 5 posts.

Here's the link...
DIY Emissions Checker - How to make a simple air pollutant tester

Any questions, let me know