Particulate emissions from urban bus fueled with biodiesel blend and their reducing characteristics using particulate after-treatment system

Highlights: • Effect of B20 and aftertreatment CCRT on particles of bus was studied using PEMS. • B20 reduced total PN by 6.6% but increased the nucleation mode particle proportion. • B20 resulted in smaller geometric mean diameter (GMD) of particles. • CCRT reduced >93% of PN and PM emissions, especially for accumulation particles. • CCRT changed the bimodal particle size distribution and removed accumulation peak. Particulate emissions from an urban bus fueled with B20 (20% biodiesel from waste cooking oil and 80% diesel by volume) were investigated using portable emissions measurement system (PEMS), then the effect of a catalyzed continuously regeneration trap (CCRT) on the particulate emissions of the B20-fueled bus were ascertained. Results show that compared with a D100 (pure diesel), B20 reduced particulate number (PN) and particulate mass (PM) emission rates of the bus by 13.9% and 24.3% under cruise control. Under transient condition, B20 reduced the PN and PM emission rates by 18.4% and 16.3%. B20 decreased the total PN concentration by 6.6% whereas increased the proportion of nucleation particles from 89.0% to 92.0%. Correspondingly causing a decrease in the GMD (geometric mean diameter) from 43.02 nm to 41.25 nm under cruise condition, and from 41.26 nm to 39.57 nm under transient condition. Using a CCRT exhibited an excellent filtration effect on both PN and PM from the B20-fueled bus. Both under cruise and transient conditions, CCRT could reduce more than 93% of the PN and PM. In addition, CCRT had a better filtration effect on accumulation particles. The use of CCRT also changed the particle size bimodal distribution of the B20 by removing the accumulation mode peak.