Impact of Detergent Type, Detergent Concentration, and Friction Modifiers on PM-PN Emissions in an SI Engine Using EEPS

Three TOP TIER TM gasoline deposit control additives (DCAs) of differing chemistries were tested for their impact on particulate matter emissions in terms of particulate mass (PM) and particle number (PN) at operating conditions representative of road load, cold start, and high load on a 2.0 L, 4-cylinder, gasoline direct injection (GDI) spark ignition (SI) engine. The PM-PN emissions were measured using an Exhaust Emissions Particle Sizer (EEPS). Deposit control additives or detergents are gasoline additives used to prevent and clean combustion chamber and injector deposits in gasoline spark ignition (SI) engines. All three gasoline additives were tested at each operating condition at three different treatment rates. In addition, one of the additives was tested with a fuel-based friction modifier (FM). The results showed that of the treatment rates tested, the lowest allowable concentration (LAC) for all additives requires the least time for the emissions to settle. However, the impact of the gasoline additives on PM-PN emissions is not linear and changes with additive concentration depending on the additive chemistry and operating conditions. The additive with the friction modifier resulted in an increase of over 19% particle number and over 30% particulate mass at the road load operating condition, while the increase at high load was over 27% for particle number and 11% for particle mass.