Collapse to view only § 1054.501 - How do I run a valid emission test?

§ 1054.501 - How do I run a valid emission test?

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 29794, Apr. 22, 2024.

(a) Applicability. This subpart is addressed to you as a manufacturer but it applies equally to anyone who does testing for you, and to us when we perform testing to determine if your engines or equipment meet emission standards.

(b) General requirements. Use the equipment and procedures for spark-ignition engines in 40 CFR part 1065 to determine whether engines meet the exhaust emission standards, as follows:

(1) Measure the emissions of all exhaust constituents subject to emission standards as specified in § 1054.505 and 40 CFR part 1065. Measure CO2, N2O, and CH4 as described in § 1054.235. See § 1054.650 for special provisions that apply for variable-speed engines (including engines shipped without governors).

(2) Use the appropriate fuels and lubricants specified in 40 CFR part 1065, subpart H, for all the testing we require in this part. Gasoline test fuel must meet the specifications in 40 CFR 1065.710(c), except as specified in § 1054.145(n) and 40 CFR 1065.10 and 1065.701. Use gasoline specified for general testing except as specified in paragraph (d) of this section. For service accumulation, use the test fuel or any commercially available fuel that is representative of the fuel that in-use engines will use. Note that § 1054.145(n) allows for testing with gasoline test fuels specified by the California Air Resources Board for any individual engine family.

(3) Ambient conditions for duty-cycle testing must be within ranges specified in 40 CFR 1065.520, subject to the provisions of § 1054.115(c).

(i) Corrections. Emissions may not be corrected for the effects of test temperature or pressure. You may correct emissions for humidity as specified in 40 CFR 1065.670.

(ii) Intake air temperature. Measure engine intake air temperature as described in 40 CFR 1065.125, and control it if necessary, consistent with good engineering judgment. For example, since the purpose of this requirement is to ensure that the measured air temperature is consistent with the intake air temperature that would occur during in-use operation at the same ambient temperature, do not cool the intake air and do not measure air temperature at a point where engine heat affects the temperature measurement.

(4) The provisions of 40 CFR 1065.405 describe how to prepare an engine for testing. However, you may consider emission levels stable without measurement after 12 hours of engine operation, except for the following special provisions that apply for engine families with a useful life of 300 hours or less:

(i) We will not approve a stabilization period longer than 12 hours even if you show that emissions are not yet stabilized.

(ii) Identify the number of hours you use to stabilize engines for low-hour emission measurements. You may consider emissions stable at any point less than 12 hours. For example, you may choose a point at which emission levels reach a low value before the effects of deterioration are established.

(5) Prepare your engines for testing by installing a governor that you normally use on production engines, consistent with §§ 1054.235(b) and 1054.505.

(6) During testing, supply the engine with fuel in a manner consistent with how it will be supplied with fuel in use. If you sell engines with complete fuel systems and your production engines will be equipped with a vapor line that routes running loss vapors into the engine's intake system, measure exhaust emissions using a complete fuel system representing a production configuration that sends fuel vapors to the test engine's intake system in a way that represents the expected in-use operation. You may alternatively demonstrate by engineering analysis that your engines will continue to meet emission standards for any amount of running loss vapor that can reasonably be expected during in-use operation.

(7) Determine the carbon mass fraction of fuel, wc, using a calculation based on measured fuel properties as described in 40 CFR 1065.655(d)(1). You may not use the default values specified in 40 CFR 1065.655(d)(2).

(c) Special and alternate procedures. You may use special or alternate procedures to the extent we allow them under 40 CFR 1065.10. The following additional provisions apply:

(1) If you are unable to run the test cycle specified in this part for your engine, use an alternate test cycle that will result in a cycle-weighted emission measurement equivalent to the expected average in-use emissions. This cycle must be approved under 40 CFR 1065.10.

(2) Describe in your application for certification any specially designed fixtures or other hardware if they are needed for proper testing of your engines. (Note: You do not need to specify the size or performance characteristics of engine dynamometers.) You must send us these fixtures or other hardware if we ask for them. We may waive the requirement of § 1054.205(aa) to identify a test facility in the United States for such engine families as long as the projected U.S.-directed production volume of all your engine families using the provisions of this paragraph (c)(2) is less than 5 percent of your total production volume from all engine families certified under this part 1054.

(d) Wintertime engines. You may test wintertime engines at the ambient temperatures specified in 40 CFR 1065.520, even though this does not represent in-use operation for these engines (40 CFR 1065.10(c)(1)). In this case, you may use good engineering judgment to modify the test engine as needed to achieve intake temperatures that are analogous to in-use conditions. You may also test wintertime engines at reduced ambient temperatures as specified in 40 CFR 1051.505. Use the gasoline specified for low-temperature testing only if you test your engines at ambient temperatures below 20 °C.

[73 FR 59259, Oct. 8, 2008, as amended at 74 FR 56511, Oct. 30, 2009; 78 FR 36397, June 17, 2013; 80 FR 9114, Feb. 19, 2015; 86 FR 34522, June 29, 2021]

§ 1054.505 - How do I test engines?

(a) This section describes how to test engines under steady-state conditions. We may also perform other testing as allowed by the Clean Air Act. Sample emissions separately for each mode, then calculate an average emission level for the whole cycle using the weighting factors specified for each mode. Control engine speed as specified in this section. Use one of the following methods for confirming torque values for nonhandheld engines:

(1) Calculate torque-related cycle statistics and compare with the established criteria as specified in 40 CFR 1065.514 to confirm that the test is valid.

(2) Evaluate each mode separately to validate the duty cycle. All torque feedback values recorded during non-idle sampling periods must be within ±2 percent of the reference value or within ±0.27 N·m of the reference value, whichever is greater. Also, the mean torque value during non-idle sampling periods must be within ±1 percent of the reference value or ±0.12 N·m of the reference value, whichever is greater. Control torque during idle as specified in paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) Measure emissions by testing engines on a dynamometer with the test procedures for constant-speed engines in 40 CFR part 1065 while using the steady-state duty cycles identified in this paragraph (b) to determine whether it meets the exhaust emission standards specified in § 1054.101(a). This paragraph (b) applies for all engines, including those not meeting the definition of “constant-speed engine” in 40 CFR 1065.1001.

(1) For handheld engines, use the two-mode duty cycle described in paragraph (a) of Appendix II of this part. Establish an engine's rated speed as follows:

(i) For ungoverned handheld engines used in fixed-speed applications all having approximately the same nominal in-use operating speed, hold engine speed within 350 rpm of the nominal speed for testing. We may allow you to include in your engine family, without additional testing, a small number of engines that will be installed such that they have a different nominal speed. If your engine family includes a majority of engines with approximately the same nominal in-use operating speed and a substantial number of engines with different nominal speeds, you must test engines as specified in this paragraph (b)(1)(i) and paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section.

(ii) For ungoverned handheld engines for which there is not a dominant value for nominal in-use operating speeds, hold engine speed within 350 rpm of the point at which the engine generates maximum power.

(iii) For governed handheld engines, hold engine speed at maximum test speed, as defined in 40 CFR 1065.1001.

(2) For nonhandheld engines designed to idle, use the six-mode duty cycle described in paragraph (b)(1) of appendix II of this part; use the five-mode duty cycle described in paragraph (b)(2) of appendix II of this part for engines that are not designed to idle. If an engine family includes engines designed to idle and engines not designed to idle, include in the application for certification the test results for the duty cycle that will result in worst-case HC+NOX emissions based on measured values for that engine family. Control engine speed during the full-load operating mode as specified in paragraph (d) of this section. For all other modes, control engine speed to within 5 percent of the nominal speed specified in paragraph (d) of this section or let the installed governor (in the production configuration) control engine speed. For all modes except idle, control torque as needed to meet the cycle-validation criteria in paragraph (a) of this section. The governor may be adjusted before emission sampling to target the nominal speed identified in paragraph (d) of this section, but the installed governor must control engine speed throughout the emission-sampling period whether the governor is adjusted or not.

(c) During idle mode for nonhandheld engines, operate the engine with the following parameters:

(1) Allow the engine to operate at the idle speed determined by the installed governor. If any production engines from the engine family have a user-selectable idle speed, operate the engine with an installed governor that controls engine speed to the lowest available speed setting.

(2) Keep engine torque under 5 percent of the nominal torque value for Mode 1.

(3) You must conduct testing at the idle mode even if the allowable torque values overlap with those for another specified mode.

(d) During full-load operation for nonhandheld engines, operate the engine with the following parameters:

(1) Select an engine speed for testing as follows:

(i) For engines with a governed speed at full load between 2700 and 4000 rpm, select appropriate test speeds for the emission family. If all the engines in the emission family are used in intermediate-speed equipment, select a test speed of 3060 rpm. The test associated with intermediate-speed operation is referred to as the A Cycle. If all the engines in the emission family are used in rated-speed equipment, select a test speed of 3600 rpm. The test associated with rated-speed operation is referred to as the B Cycle. If an emission family includes engines used in both intermediate-speed equipment and rated-speed equipment, measure emissions at test speeds of both 3060 and 3600 rpm. In unusual circumstances, you may ask to use a test speed different than that specified in this paragraph (d)(1)(i) if it better represents in-use operation.

(ii) For engines with a governed speed below 2700 or above 4000 rpm, ask us to approve one or more test speeds to represent those engines using the provisions for special procedures in 40 CFR 1065.10(c)(2).

(2) Operate the engine ungoverned at wide-open throttle at the test speed established in paragraph (d)(1) of this section until the engine reaches thermal stability as described in 40 CFR 1065.530(a)(2)(ii). Record the torque value after stabilization. Use this value for the full-load torque setting and for denormalizing the rest of the duty cycle.

(3) Control engine speed during emission sampling to stay within 5 percent of the nominal speed identified in paragraph (d)(1) of this section.

(4) The provisions of this paragraph (d) apply instead of the engine mapping procedures in 40 CFR 1065.510.

[73 FR 59259, Oct. 8, 2008, as amended at 79 FR 23751, Apr. 28, 2014; 86 FR 34522, June 29, 2021; 88 FR 4667, Jan. 24, 2023]

§ 1054.520 - What testing must I perform to establish deterioration factors?

Sections 1054.240 and 1054.245 describe the required methods for testing to establish deterioration factors for an emission family.