Evaporative Emissions Testing with the GASERA ONE SHED

Evaporative losses from the fuel system have to be tested and quantified for vehicle certification. The GASERA ONE SHED allows direct monitoring of evaporative emissions as part of the qualification testing procedures for vehicles.

Evaporative emissions testing is mandatory for new vehicles before commercialization. The use of biofuel-gasoline blends, such as E10, is increasing globally. The measurement of ethanol is regulated and mandated by various government regulations. Methanol and refrigerants are measured for additional information. Evaporative emissions of ethanol originate from fuel handling systems. Ethanol can evaporate from the tank and permeate through fuel hoses. Methanol evaporates from the windshield washer fluid.

The Sealed Housing Evaporate Determination (SHED) test monitors evaporative emissions in the automotive industry to ensure compliance to the regulatory requirements. Photoacoustic IR spectroscopy (PAS) is used for the SHED testing and it is the most practical one from various measurement methods (e.g. GC-FID, PTR- MS). New evaporative emissions testing requirements create a demand for ultimate sensitivity and selectivity. The GASERA ONE SHED is based on the photoacoustic detection technology with improved sensitivity provided by the patented optical microphone solution.

The GASERA ONE SHED is an automatic and standalone measurement system that uses an external cavity quantum cascade laser (EC-QCL) as the light source. The GASERA ONE SHED allows simultaneous, accurate and sensitive measurement of all target components, ethanol, methanol and refrigerants R-134a and HFO-1234yf with superior detection limits. Contrary to measurement methods requiring impinger benches and remote laboratory analysis, the GASERA ONE SHED performs direct monitoring inside the chamber. It performs well in the true SHED chamber environment containing H2O and CO2. Due to the high resolution of the laser source, ethanol and methanol can be accurately distinguished from each other. In addition to ethanol and methanol, the GASERA ONE SHED can monitor refrigerant leakage simultaneously and without cross-interference. Read more from www.gasera.fi.