Determination of the greenhouse gases emission form of used tractors in laboratory conditions

Abstract

Utilization of fossil fuels significantly worsens the problems of global warming due to the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases with the greenhouse effect. Agricultural machinery with diesel engines has its own negative contribution to this emission of harmful gases, because tractors are not only used as working and traction machines, but also on roads for transporting goods and people. In this work, the emission of harmful gases was measured in simulated operating conditions (laboratory) of used tractors IMT 539 and IMT 542, as the most typical representatives of tractors with engine power up to 50 kW in Republic of Serbia. Determination of the amount of emitted gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons (HC) was performed using the technique of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) with a flow gas cell. In this way, the parameters of diesel fuel consumption, operating mode and emission of harmful gases were correlated in simulated working conditions specific to this type of tractor. The test results clearly indicate the dependence of increased CO2, CO, NOx and HC emissions on the tractor's operating mode.