Methodology and results of the evaluation of alternative short tests applied in inspection and maintenance programmes

The aim of this paper is to present a methodology for the evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative short tests that could be applied in an inspe ction and maintenance programme. The basis for the evaluation, apart from t he environmental benefits, is the social and political acceptance that cons titutes crucial parameters in the implementation of a short test. The metho dology has been applied to a large sample of three way catalyst equipped ve hicles representative of the European fleet and the effectiveness of 1D alt ernative short tests has been evaluated. The short tests include transient and steady state (both loaded and unloaded) procedures, as well as the idle test of the current European legislation. The steady state tests find it d ifficult to identify high emitters, approximately 15% are detected, and as a result the predicted potential for environmental benefit is less than 5% for all pollutants. The transient tests, on the other hand, seem to be able to identify approximately 70% of gross emitters and therefore the emission reduction potential is predicted to be as high as 20% for air pollutants. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.