Air monitoring inside and outside diesel truck cabs during long-term idling

Abstract

The air pollutant concentrations inside and outside of diesel truck cabs were measured under conditions of extended idling at a truck stop. The measurements were conducted under different modes of engine and air conditioner operation at different times of day and night. One-hour average concentrations of fine particulate matter, NOx and CO were measured. All trucks showed some level of self-contamination of in-cab air quality from engine emissions during idling. Some trucks showed significantly higher in-cab concentrations than outside concentrations, indicating engine compartment leaks into the cab. Other tracks showed in-cab concentrations similar to or even lower than outside concentrations, but higher outside and in-cab concentrations during engine idling than when the engine was turned off. In these cases, truck emissions raised outside concentrations, which then migrated into the truck cab. CO concentrations measured in-cab were insignificant compared to relevant air quality standards, but fine particulate matter and NO2 concentrations were high when compared to EPA ambient air quality standards. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AWMA's 99th Annual Conference and Exhibition (New Orleans, LA 6/20-23/2006).