Intertek expands emissions testing

Intertek, a leading global quality solutions provider, has announced that its Milton Keynes-based Transportation Technologies laboratory has expanded its on-road vehicle exhaust emissions testing and analysis to now provide manufacturers with a wide variety of compliant test routes to maximise calibration robustness.

Last year the Milton Keynes-based laboratory was swift to respond to changes in European exhaust emissions legislation by being among the first to launch real world driving analysis of vehicle tailpipe emissions using its new Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) to deliver accurate on-road vehicle exhaust emissions testing and analysis, through vehicle mounted, real world tests for a wide variety of cars and light commercial vehicles.

Intertek’ s experts have now developed multiple compliant routes including four nominal routes, a hot driver route and another including extensive hill climbing and descents, which will enable clients to test the robustness of their vehicle emissions control systems. The expanded Intertek capability also includes route profiling, route planning and driver aids, such as driver behaviour monitoring systems, to ensure delivery of the highest percentage of valid tests to customers. These tools enable new routes to be developed with far less reliance on road driving, reducing route development time from weeks to days and also driver aids that enable non-expert drivers to follow compliant routes without the need for a co-driver in the vehicle.

“These new more stringent and demanding tests will provide manufacturers with the confidence that their vehicle calibrations are robust enough for a wide spectrum of real world driving conditions,” says Tony Braddon, UK Managing Director of Intertek Transportation Technologies. “They are designed not only to assist the manufacturers in meeting the requirements of the legislation, but also to ensure that companies can best manage the air quality emissions and CO₂ reduction,” Tony added.

Changes to pan-European Type Approval legislation in ECE Regulation 83 for light duty vehicle exhaust emissions mandate that manufacturers report exhaust emissions and fuel consumption figures from real world driving in a variety of road and traffic conditions. This legislative change comes, in part, as a response to public disquiet about the disparity between officially published laboratory testing data and real world figures on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.

Adapted from press release by Francesca Brindle

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/the-environment/26042016/intertek-expands-emissions-testing-capabilities-3127/