Sensors Inc. supplies emission measuring systems to EPA, DDC

23 August 2002

Saline, MI-based Sensors Inc. has been awarded a contract by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to supply its recently announced on-vehicle emissions analysis systems.

The EPA award involves the acquisition of two each of Sensors’ SEMTECH-D and SEMTECH-G units, for diesel and gasoline powered vehicle testing, respectively. This contract is the culmination of several studies that EPA conducted over the past 18 months, some involving the use of Sensors’ equipment to test both heavy duty and light duty vehicle emissions. The SEMTECH-D and -G analyzers provide immediate analysis of key exhaust gas components, including total hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Using Sensors, Inc.’s proprietary NDUV (non-dispersive ultra violet spectroscopy) module, the NO and NO₂ constituents of NOx can be measured simultaneously and independently. According to Sensors, the analyzers provide laboratory level accuracy in on-board, real-time monitoring applications.

Engine manufacturers, especially those diesel engine OEMs affected by the 1998 consent decrees, have also expressed interest in the SEMTECH systems. Two manufacturers, including Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC), have selected SEMTECH-D to measure on-road, in-use emissions during their heavy-duty truck diesel engine design and development programs. Earlier this year, engineers from DDC and Sensors, Inc. concluded a 2,500 mile transcontinental test in an instrumented DDC-powered truck in order to validate SEMTECH-D performance and to collect in-use emissions data for further analysis.

Source: Sensors Inc.