IAV Continues to Beef Up Operations for Complex Emission Issues

IAV GmbH, the German engineering and powertrain systems engineering company, is adding test centers in Mexico City, Mexico, and San Carlos, Calif.

The new facilities are the latest in a growth plan that began in 2008, when the company's IAV Automotive Engineering Inc. unit expanded its Northville, Mich., R&D center. The complex added a new battery testing facility last year, making it IAV's largest research center outside Germany and the only one doing full program development.

IAV's Northville operations now include a bank of dynamometers capable of handling transient loads, which allow engineers to model rapid changes in acceleration typical of real-world conditions. Three of IAV's dynamometers for light-, medium- and heavy-duty loads are capable of torque loads ranging from 510 lb-ft to 2,500 lb-ft.

IAV says the majority of dynos in the U.S. (aside from those operated by carmakers) can't duplicate the Environmental Protection Agency's test cycle for fuel economy, because they are capable of measuring engine performance using only static loads.

The company's engineering group recently completed work calibrating Chrysler Group LLC's 2.4-liter Tigershark MultiAir 4-cylinder engine for the Dodge Dart small car. The team also worked on the 3.0-liter V-6 diesel for Chrysler's Ram half-ton pickup truck. The engine, which makes 240 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, earned a combined city/highway federal fuel economy rating of 23 mpg.

The new diesel's emission control system differs from its European counterpart, because U.S. emissions standards require 70% lower oxides of nitrogen emissions. IAV notes that future standards for diesels will demand more NOx cuts and impose new greenhouse gas restrictions that include methane.

IAV has demonstrated a new prototype selective reduction catalyst (SCR) system for diesels that was developed for Jaguar Cars Ltd. The system meets the 2025 standard by combining an electrically heated catalyst with a second SCR catalyst.

The system was developed after analyzing multiple combinations of NOx traps, passive adsorbers, and diesel three-way catalysts. The combination IAV chose uses a close-coupled oxidation catalyst, followed by a urea dosing system and then two more catalytic converters.