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Development of a Portable Remote Sensing System for Measurement of Diesel Emissions from Passing Diesel Trucks

Presently, proposals and regulations are under consideration to require diesel truck operators to either switch to low sulfur diesel fuel or retrofit their engines and exhaust systems with emission control devices that reduce diesel engine emissions. These regulations have direct impact on the nearly 6000 existing trucks serving the two major ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Implementation of these regulations should result in significant improvements in local air quality. However, a major task with the execution of the new regulations is verification of emissions abatement of the retrofitted truck. The proposed investigation will develop a new remote sensing system to verify compliance of the truckers that serve the Los Angeles/Long Beach ports with the anticipated new emission standards and mitigation requirements. The proposed system comprises of an infrared (IR) light source along with carbon monoxide, CO, carbon dioxide, CO2, and hydrocarbons, HC, detectors. The light source is passed across a single lane of the road at an elevation above the passing trucks and is captured by the detectors. Microprocessors collect and analyze the information from the detectors and also send them via wireless network to a remote computer for further processing. Based on comparison of the signals with a reference signal and acceptable bandwidths, a pass/no pass display provides the driver and the regulators with conditions of the vehicle. The system can be equipped with on site cameras to identify worst vehicle polluters for enforcement purposes.