Methodology for instantaneous average exhaust gas mass flow rate measurement

• The paper presents a novel Pitot average mass flow meter, named MIVECO.
• MIVECO is designed to determinate real driving emissions on light duty vehicles.
• MIVECO includes a method for eliminating the 'square root error' in pulsating flow.
• The paper includes design, calibration, validation, error and uncertainty analysis.

This paper presents a new methodology for measurement of the instantaneous average exhaust mass flow rate in reciprocating internal combustion engines to be used to determinate real driving emissions on light duty vehicles, as part of a Portable Emission Measurement System (PEMS). Firstly a flow meter, named MIVECO flow meter, was designed based on a Pitot tube adapted to exhaust gases which are characterized by moisture and particle content, rapid changes in flow rate and chemical composition, pulsating and reverse flow at very low engine speed. Then, an off-line methodology was developed to calculate the instantaneous average flow, considering the “square root error” phenomenon. The paper includes the theoretical fundamentals, the developed flow meter specifications, the calibration tests, the description of the proposed off-line methodology and the results of the validation test carried out in a chassis dynamometer, where the validity of the mass flow meter and the methodology developed are demonstrated.