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In Focus
Energy
WVU ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES Volume 2 Issue 2
Nigel Clark explains the
operation of the mediumduty
chassis dynamometer
used for emissions
characterizations and novel
fuel research by the Center
to a group of foreign
journalists who visited the
campus last spring.
Center Focuses
ON VEHICLE EFFICIENCY, EMISSIONS
By Cassie Waugh
West Virginia University’s
Research Center for Alternative
Fuels, Engines and Emissions is
having a major impact on reducing
exhaust emissions and, at the same time,
reducing our national dependence on
imported oil, said Dr. Nigel Clark, Center
director and professor of mechanical and
aerospace engineering.
“One way to meet clean air goals,” said
Clark, “is to make sure new vehicles meet
high emissions standards and that
vehicles that are already in use run more
efficiently.”
Located within the Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
the Center coordinates research to
improve engine and vehicle operation
and to reduce exhaust emission. Funding
from the U.S. Departments of Energy
and Transportation support the Center’s
researchers, who have developed new and
better technologies to measure exhaust
emissions from vehicles that are already
in use. Engine and fuel manufacturers
also use the technology to develop and
improve existing products. State and
federal regulatory agencies use the
research findings to develop realistic
regulations for exhaust emissions.
“WVU has some of the nation’s most
extensive experience in measuring
exhaust emissions of conventionally and
alternatively-fueled vehicles,” Clark said.
“What is unique is that we are capable of
traveling throughout North America to
test heavy-duty vehicle emissions.”
This mobility comes from the Center’s
two Transportable Vehicle Emissions
Testing Laboratories, which are regularly
taken to other cities and states –
including Washington, DC, California,
and others – to perform emissions testing
on fleet vehicles near the fleet’s home
base. For example, the transportable lab
was taken to Washington, DC, this spring
to measure emissions from city transit
buses. The fact that the vehicles do not
have to be sent away for testing saves
cities time and money.
Besides Clark, other Center faculty
members include Donald Lyons, Mridul
Gautam, Gregory Thompson, Scott
Wayne, Ben Shade, and Mohan
Krshmamurthy.
The researchers also are studying natural
gas bus engines, advanced diesel buses,
and diesel-electric hybrid buses. Two
graduate students work in the
Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels
Data Center, where they process and
develop models based on emissions data.
Other Center projects include a
partnership – with industry and with the
Department of Energy, California Air
Resources Board, and Desert Research
Institute – aimed at studying toxic air
contaminant emissions from California’s
heavy-duty trucks and buses.
There are six laboratories within the
Center: vehicle emissions and
performance analysis, engine emissions
research and certification, onboard
vehicle emissions measurement,
locomotive emissions testing and
certification, marine vessel testing, and
chemical characterization of exhaust
emissions. For more information, visit
www.cafee.wvu.edu.
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