Basics of Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Emissions - Decreasing Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Emissions in Transportation - page 3

Technology Organisation Environment

Type approval and
Type certification

Education for
sustainabilty

Vehicle body

Propulsion and
transmission
technology

Protection against
negative impacts
of climate change

Inspection and
maintenance

Electronic and
micro controller
system

Environmentaly
friendly mobility
for everyone

Traffic navigation

Fig. 1.2 Main routes of fuel and emission savings in traffic

Fuel consumption and emissions are measured at the test bench in control
cycles. The consumption quotas from individual cycles are partly different in the
road, ship and airplane technologies and therefore not directly comparable. CO 2
emissions can be derived from the fuel consumption.
Table 1.1 presents a comparison of the fuel consumption of different means of
transportation.

1.2 Principle of Continuous Controlling Combustion Process

Deterioration and wear and tear cause increased fuel consumption and exhaust gas
emissions. Monitoring deterioration is an important way to detect errors in time.
On-Board Diagnosis (OBD) was introduced in vehicle technology as the first
continuous inspection measure in operation [ 9 ]. OBD makes it possible to control
exceeding combustion and emission limiting values with sensor signals of com-
bustion and emission relevant elements in vehicles. In principle, the diagnosis, i.e.,
the indirect control of combustion and exhaust gas emission technology has been
applied to airplanes and ships in a very similar way but with other names. It is the
current state of the art in all means of transportation.
Direct control of the chemical composition of burning products with micro
sensors in the combustion chamber and in the exhaust gas system is only partly
state of the art although it could precisely characterize the combustion and the
exhaust gas after treatment process. In the future, if appropriate sensors are suit-
able, a combination of OBD and On-Board Measurement (OBM) technology will
be able to further improve fuel combustion and exhaust gas emission savings [ 10 ].
The next stage of direct measurement is the complex use of ''Self Diagnosis''
(SD) of engines in vehicles, airplanes and ships. SD does not only record when
limit values are exceeded, but also all fuel consumption and emission relevant
phases of operation which characterize the change of operation parameters during
the whole life cycle. Real ''may be wrong'' fuel consumption and exhaust gas