Soot formation and particulate matter (PM) has traditionally been associated with Diesel engines. Since the introduction of direct injection gasoline engines also suffer from this problem. Upcoming emission standards will be introducing more stringent PM regulations for gasoline engines.
Test bed particle analysers and modern portable emission measurement systems (PEMS) are designed to measure tailpipe PM emissions from internal combustion engines. To reduce soot and particulate formation at the source, i.e. in the cylinder, a detailed analysis of the mixture formation and combustion process is necessary.
LaVision EngineMaster inspex systems measure in-cylinder soot formation using endoscopic imaging systems, while laser induced incandescence (LII) systems are available for advanced soot analysis.