UC Riverside

This thesis focused on the comparison of particle sizing instrument technologies from vehicle particulate emission measurements. It provides new information on particle sizing and counting techniques of atmospherically relevant Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations from light-duty vehicles and advanced fuel technologies. Particle number and particle size distribution was measured using a TSI Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS), Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS), Ultrafine Condensation Particle Counter (UCPC) and Fast Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (f-SMPS). Four light-duty vehicles were tested based on multiple ethanol and butanol fuel blends over the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) and the Unified Cycle (UC). The regression fit of the EEPS total particle count data over the UCPC data gave a R2 value of 0.90 over the FTP and 0.85 over the UC. When comparing the particle size distribution, the EEPS, SMPS and f-SMPS data all correlated well for particle sizes from 25 nm to 100 nm. The shape of the graphs for these instruments looked nearly identical in this particle size range.