A new wave of leading-edge research is about to get under way for TTI thanks to a portable, accurate emission-testing device acquired by the Institute’s Air Quality and Transportation Modeling programs. The device allows researchers to get an accurate assessment of emissions from any type of internal combustion engine in real-life settings. Up until recently, testing had to be performed only in the laboratory.

“The portability of this emission testing equipment means we can test a whole range of vehicles, anytime, anyplace,” says Dennis Perkinson, manager of the Transportation Modeling Program and visiting assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. “It will give us answers to numerous questions that we couldn’t really answer until now.”

Those questions include: What’s safer for the environment and our children, bio-diesel or low-sulfur diesel school busses? With suggested higher speed limits for the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, are engine emissions better or worse at speeds above 70 miles per hour? Are Mexican company-owned trucks emitting more pollutants than U.S-owned trucks?

“We already have numerous research projects coming up because of this device and our track record in this field,” says Associate Research Engineer Joe Zietsman. “And we think it has the potential of opening the doors for a lot more research.”

At least one of the projects will include the use of the banked 9-mile oval track at the Pecos Research and Testing Center, which will accommodate vehicles at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour.

Read and hear local media coverage about TTI’s new portable emission testing equipment:

Bryan-College Station Eagle report:
http://www.theeagle.com/stories/051006/
am_20060510030.php

WTAW 1620 Bryan/College Station radio
http://www.wtaw.com/
news.php?phase=show&item=525

KBTX Channel 3, Bryan/College Station:
http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/
2772851.html