72-5
Emission Results From An Automobile
Using the Prantz Vapor Injector
September 1971
John C. Thomson
Office of Air Programs
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
-------
Background
As part of a continuing evaluation of retrofit devices for used
cars, emission tests on the Frantz Vapor Injector system was
run. Emission reductions for hydrocarbon (HC) of up to 37%,
carbon monoxide (CO) of up to 44%, and nitrogen oxide of up
to 35% were claimed. The device was installed on a vehicle
supplied by a Louisville, Kentucky newspaper at the newspaper's
request. The installer was not told of the purpose of the
installation and it is assumed that this was a typical conversion.
Device
The device tested was a vapor injector system produced by the
Sky Corporation, Stockton, California. This system added a
mixture of air and a vaporized chemical to the positive crank-
case ventilation line with the amount of vapor-air mixture
dependent on the manifold vacuum.
Test Program
The device was tested on a 1968 Ford Falcon equipped with a
200 cubic-inch six cylinder engine and manual transmission.
This engine was also equipped with the original air injection
pump. Two different test procedures were used in evaluating
the emissions from this device and the vehicle was tested under
three differing conditions. The first four tests were with the
vapor injector as installed by Frantz and the recommended fluid
used. Two of these used the 1972 Federal emission test pro-
cedure (LA4) which is a non-repetative self-weighting test
using the constand volume sampling system. This procedure
required the collection of a representative sample of the total
exhaust from the vehicle. The second two tests used the 1971
Federal emission test procedure (7-mode) which is a continuous
tailpipe monitoring test using a repetative driving cycle.
In this test certain portions of the exhaust are measured and
weighted according to the amount of driving typical under these
conditions. For both sets of tests, carbon monoxide (CO) and
carbon dioxide (C02) were measured using nondispersive infrared
(NDIR). For the 7-mode tests hydrocarbon (HC) and oxides of
nitrogen (NOx) were analyzed using NDIR also. In the LA4 tests
HC was measured using flame ionization detector (FID) and NOx
using chemiluminesence. The amount of fuel used for each test
was measured and reported in kilograms. A single 7-mode test
using the injector with the fluid removed was run to determine
the effect of the fluid.
One 7-mode and one LA4 were run after removing the vapor injector
and returning the vehicle to baseline condition.
-------
Results
The results from all tests were reported in Table I with each
condition of test identified. Emission results are reported
in grams per mile (GPM). As the 7-mode test was the only one
used under all three conditions, the results from this test are
summarized below:
HC CO NOx Fuel used
gpm gpm gpm kg
Vapor Injector
with fluid 2.8 26 4.0 1.1
Vapor Injector
no fluid" . 2.3 24 2.7 1.1
Baseline 2.7 28 3.7 1.1
The lowest results came from using the vapor injector with the
fluid removed. The next lowest condition was the baseline with
emissions from the vapor injector with fluid highest on two out
of three pollutants. Fuel used for all tests was identical.
The LA4 results showed a considerable amount of variation and
are therefore not as reliable as the 7-mode answers. The
reasons for variability are unknown but indicate an emission
reduction with the device installed. The LA4 test with no
fluid was voided due to operation error. In order to evaluate
this device on the LA4 procedure at least six more tests would
be required.
Conclusions
1. The Frantz Vapor Injector system shows some emission re-
duction on the LA4 test over baseline but the significance of
the answers is unknown due to a high variability in the data.
Insufficient time was available to determine the cause of this
emission variability.
2. The best results were obtained from the vapor injector by
removing the fluid.
3. The baseline 7-mode tests gave lower emission values than
the test with the vapor injector installed.
4. The effectiveness of the vapor injector device for reducing
emissions is apparently a function of the air bled into the
manifold. This results in a leaner air-fuel mixture.
-------
Table I
Emission Results from a 1968 Ford Falcon
HC
CO
NOx
7-mode
LA4
7-mode
LA4
LA4
7 -mode
7 -mode
2.9
2.3
2.5
3.1
2.3
3.5
2.7
Fuel used
(total kg)
(with vapor injector installed)
27 4.0 1.4
28 2.0 1.3
25 4.0 1.1
27 3.9 1.1
(with vapor injector-fluid removed)
24 2.7 1.1
(with vapor injector removed - baseline)
38 4.0 1.6
28 3.7 1.1
------- |