Emission Rates for Light-Duty Truck Towing Operations in Real-World Conditions

Emission Rates for Light-Duty Truck Towing Operations in Real-World Conditions

Light-duty trucks (LDTs) are often used to tow trailers. Towing increases the load on the engine, and this additional load can affect exhaust emissions. Although heavy-duty towing impacts are widely studied, data on LDT towing impacts is sparse. In this study, portable emissions measurement systems...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bumsik Kim, Rohit Jaikumar, Rodolfo Souza, Minjie Xu, Jeremy Johnson, Carl R. Fulper, James Faircloth, Madhusudhan Venugopal, Chaoyi Gu, Tara Ramani, Michael Aldridge, Richard W. Baldauf, Antonio Fernandez, Thomas Long, Richard Snow, Craig Williams, Russell Logan, Heidi Vreeland
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
light-duty trucks
towing
emissions
PEMS
MOVES
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/6/749
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Summary:Light-duty trucks (LDTs) are often used to tow trailers. Towing increases the load on the engine, and this additional load can affect exhaust emissions. Although heavy-duty towing impacts are widely studied, data on LDT towing impacts is sparse. In this study, portable emissions measurement systems (PEMSs) were used to measure in-use emissions from three common LDTs during towing and non-towing operations. Emission rates were characterized by operating modes defined in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) MOVES (MOtor Vehicle Emissions Simulator) model. The measured emission rates were compared to the default rates used by MOVES, revealing similar overall trends. However, discrepancies between measured rates and MOVES predictions, especially at high speed and high operating modes, indicate a need for refinement in emissions modeling for LDTs under towing operations. Results highlight a general trend of increased CO<sub>2</sub>, CO, HC, and NOx when towing a trailer compared to non-towing operations across nearly all operating modes, with distinct CO and HC increases in the higher operating modes. Although emissions were observed to be notably higher in a handful of scenarios, results also indicate that three similar LDTs can have distinctly different emission profiles.
ISSN:2073-4433

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