Controlling what comes out of your car exhaust The burning of fossil fuels leads to emission of a number of pollutants into the atmosphere. Cars are among the culprits so an EU-funded initiative developed a real-time highly accurate optical sensor system to detect levels of gases and solid particles in car exhaust with the goal of eventually controlling emissions. Climate Change and Environment © Thinkstock Standard automotive fuel injection systems are regulated and monitored via two probes, neither of which analyses the content of hazardous gases or soot particles in the exhaust. The ‘Infrared microsystem for polluting emission control on cars 2’ (Impecc2) project was designed to develop onboard sensor technology capable of detecting levels of hydrocarbons (those made of hydrogen and carbon, such as methane (CH4)) and carbon monoxide, among others, in exhaust emissions. The researchers sought to combine fast optical measurements for detection based on in situ infrared spectroscopy methods with exhaust after-treatment control and diagnostics for safe and accurate exhaust gas concentrations. They also designed the system to obtain information on exhaust gas soot particle content. Commercialisation of the project outcomes should help reduce hazardous gas emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels by automobiles, given that gasoline continues to be the main fuel source for the vast majority of cars. As consumers become more and more environmentally savvy, environmentally friendly cars have a large potential market and thus could provide an economic boost to the EU.
