Regulated and nonregulated diesel and gasoline cold start emissions at different temperatures

The emissions of modern cars are usually reduced in warm engine conditions by catalysts. Consequently emissions are significantly higher during the cold start, i.e. the warm-up phase of the car. The duration of this period and the emissions produced during it depend on the ambient temperature as well as on the initial temperature of the car's systems.The cold start emissions of Euro-3 gasoline cars, Euro-2 diesel cars and old pre-Euro-1 gasoline cars were investigated at cold ambient temperatures. Since the goal was to get real-world emissions, the measurements were done with cars belonging to private owners taken straight from the road with no maintenance. The chassis dynamometer tests were carried out at +23, −7 and −20 °C. The test cycle employed is a representative urban ride from a real-world driving behaviour study. Besides the regulated pollutants, methane, benzene and toluene were also measured online by chemical ionisation mass spectrometry.