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CHARACTERIZATION OF EXHAUST EMISSION FROM HEAVY DUTY DIESEL VEHICLES
IN THE HGB AREA
Principal Investigator: Dr.
Joe Zietsman (TTI) and Dr. Dr. Lei Yu (Lead at TSU)
Sponsoring Agency: Texas
Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
Collaborator:
Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)
Period: September
1, 2008 ~ August 31, 2010
Research Abstract:
The relative contribution of heavy-duty diesel vehicles to
mobile source emissions has grown significantly over the
past decade. It is critical to address this component of the
fleet, especially in nonattainment areas such as the
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) eight-county ozone
nonattainment area. However, most emissions studies have not
incorporated random sampling in their study designs, are
mostly based on laboratory settings using chassis
dynamometer testing, and are focused on gaseous pollutants,
such as hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and oxides
of nitrogen (NOx), and do not include particulate matter
(PM) and mobile source air toxics (MSATs). No study has been
found that incorporates random sampling, real world testing,
and also addresses PM and MSATs. This proposed project will
address all these aspects and add one additional component
that is often overlooked – the impact of high-emitting
vehicles. This project will be directly beneficial to all
districts of TxDOT, especially those that have
responsibilities in nonattainment, near nonattainment and
early action compact areas. The project will also be of
great benefit to TxDOT divisions, such as Environmental (ENV)
and Transportation Planning and Programming (TPP), which
handle air quality issues such as mobile source emission
reductions, policy formulation, plan implementation,
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, and
conformity determination. The findings of the study will
also be of direct use to other agencies such as Metropolitan
Planning Organizations (MPOs), the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
Research Information
For further information about the research, please contact Dr. Lei
Yu by telephone at (713) 313-6809 or by e-mail at
yu_lx@tsu.edu.
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