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ADVANCED COLLABORATIVE EMISSIONS STUDY

CRC Project Nos. ACES, ACES-1, ACES-1a

Leaders:          M. Natarajan
                        C. J. Tennant

Scope and Objective

The Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES) is a cooperative, multi-party effort to characterize the emissions and assess the possible health impacts of the new, advanced engine systems and fuels that will be introduced into the market during the 2007–2010 time period. 
The ACES program is being carried out by the Health Effects Institute (HEI) and the Coordinating Research Council (CRC).  It is utilizing established emissions characterization and toxicological test methods to assess the overall health impacts of production-intent prototype engine and control technology combinations.

Funding for ACES is being provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the American Petroleum Institute (API), the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA), and manufacturers of emissions control equipment.
ACES is divided into three phases: 

  • In Phase 1, extensive emissions characterization of four 2007 production heavy heavy-duty diesel (HHDD) engines is being performed.  Results will be the basis for selecting one HHDD engine/aftertreatment system for health testing (Phase 3).  In addition to the measurement of regulated pollutants, the exhaust gases are being speciated to quantify on the order of 700 compounds of interest. 

  • Phase 2 is analogous to Phase 1, but will be performed on the 2010 HHDD engine models.

  • In Phase 3, the selected 2007 engine will be installed in a specially-designed emissions generation and animal exposure facility and used in a chronic inhalation study with health measurements.

Current Status and Future Program

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Desert Research Institute (DRI) were selected to perform Phase 1. The Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI) was selected to perform Phase 3.  Four manufacturers (Caterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel, and Volvo) supplied de-greened new 2007 engines for Phase 1 testing, using a common lubricant supplied by Lubrizol.

The Phase 1 evaluation is based on Federal certification test procedures (FTP) but  also included testing on a new engine cycle based on a heavy-duty chassis dynamometer test cycle developed by CARB, and employed extensively in the CRC Project E-55/59. The development of this engine cycle was performed by West Virginia University under the ACES-1 project, funded by CARB. As a follow-on project to ACES-1, the ACES-1a project was funded by HEI to create a 16-hour test schedule. The 16-hour test schedule is comprised of the FTP and portions of the CARB test cycles, and will be used for all engine characterization and exposure activities in the ACES Project.

The Final Reports for the ACES-1 and ACES-1a project have been released, and are available on the CRC website.  In Phase 1 of ACES, testing of the four engines is complete, and an engine has been selected for Phase 3. Individual manufacturers, including the one selected for the health study, will not be identified in the results while the project is ongoing.  Hence, the engines have been designated by the letters A, B, C, and D; Engine B is the Phase 3 engine. Testing of a backup (duplicate) engine B will be performed in the fall of 2008, completing the Phase 1 project with a final report release planned in early 2009.

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