Testing Equipment
This page presents an overview of our most important instruments. There are many others too specialized to list, and we frequently work with sponsors to identify and source equipment specific to a given project. Please reach out to us with any questions: statler-cafee@mail.wvu.edu
Many of our instruments can be relocated between our facilities as required by a project, or operate at a sponsor's site or in remote field locations. Nearly any combination of instruments can be integrated through our flexible in-house software, in order to fulfill either typical testing requirements or specialized research projects.
Power and Mechanical Loading
Engine Dynamometers
CAFEE has dyno-tested engines as small as lawnmowers and refrigeration units, to ones large enough for some of the largest on-road trucks and virtually anywhere in-between.
- 800 Horsepower Engine Dynamometer - Suitable for heavy duty on-road truck engines and engines of similar power rating. Located at Engine Emissions Research Center; soon to be relocated to Vehicle and Engine Testing Laboratory.
- 500 Horsepower Engine Dynamometer - Available for heavy duty truck engines that don't require the 800 HP dyno power envelope, and to avoid scheduling conflicts. Located at Engine Emissions Research Center; soon to be relocated to Vehicle and Engine Testing Laboratory.
- 225 Horsepower Engine Dynamometer - Available for higher-speed engines, such as gasoline. Located at Engine Emissions Research Center; soon to be relocated to Fundamental Combustion Lab.
- Smaller Engine Dynamometers - We have other smaller capacity dynamometers at our disposal, both eddy-current and motoring, which can be relocated to any of our facilities as a project requires.
Chassis Dynamometers
CAFEE has custom-engineered and constructed two inherently mobile chassis dynamometers for operation at our facilities or on site. We're proud to have offered this nearly unparalleled capability for almost two decades. When projects call for many heavy-duty vehicles to be tested, our ability to bring the dyno to the vehicles, rather than vice-versa, has enabled projects which would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
In the future we plan to offer even greater capacity in a stationary form at our Vehicle and Engine Testing Laboratory, which will also reduce scheduling conflicts with our mobile offerings.
- Mobile Heavy Duty Chassis Dynamometer Our heavy-duty chassis dyno is inherently mobile and has been operated in numerous sites in North America, as far away as Denali National Park in Alaska and Mexico City. The site pictured above was Riverside, California.
- Mobile Medium-Duty Chassis Dynamometer: Our medium-duty chassis dyno is a simplified version of our heavy duty dyno, designed for light and medium duty diesel, gasoline and dual-fuel vehicles.
- Stationary Chassis Dynamometers: Our Vehicle and Engine Testing Laboratory will offer greater capacity in stationary form.
Gaseous Emissions
CAFEE has a large inventory of state-of-the-art equipment for the measurement of exhaust gas concentrations. Most of the systems are suitable for both raw and dilute emissions testing. Some analysis systems are dedicated to a particular laboratory but most are interchangeable between laboratory and field use, for both stationary engine or chassis dynamometer testing, or even use in a moving vehicle (in-use testing).
Horiba MEXA 7000 Series Gas Analysis Systems
CAFEE maintains several complete functioning MEXA 7000 instruments, known for state-of the-art quantification of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen with accuracy compliant to the most stringent regulations. In addition, we maintain a field-operated MEXA 7000 in raw-sampled mode, independent of the TEMS, which can be deployed in mobile testing applications.
Two Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy Gas Analyzers
CAFEE maintains several MKS FTIR gas analyzers, which use state of the art semiconductor technology and advanced signal processing to quantify over a dozen different exhaust gas compounds simultaneously, far more than other analyzers, enabling advanced research and development projects.
Extremely useful for real-time hydrocarbon speciation, we have integrated an FTIR with almost all of our stationary and mobile operations, as well as using stand-alone applications.
Portable Emissions Measurement Systems
CAFEE’s Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) consists of a number of modular emissions analyzers that can be adapted to nearly any in-use or real road application. Our primary mobile equipment consists of:
- OBS-2200 and OBS-One gas analysis systems. These systems allow measurement of heavy- and light-duty gaseous emissions while the vehicle is in motion, for the most real-world emissions testing possible. In this photo our OBS-2200 samples tailpipe emissions while installed in the rear of a municipal transit bus.
- SEMTECH-D and SEMTECH-DS (pictured) analysis systems. Like the OBS systems, these can measure emissions while a vehicle is in motion, but we also utilize these in stationary applications.
Highly Sensitive Greenhouse Gas Analyzers
CAFEE has two cavity-enhanced absorption portable greenhouse gas analyzers (of different ranges) capable of measuring carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor simultaneously. The units are sensitive enough to accurately quantify ambient concentrations of each gas. We have used these to quantify ambient and fugitive emissions, wherein methane has escaped from natural gas extraction, processing and transport systems, natural gas engines and other sources such as landfills.
Individual Conventional Gas Analyzers
CAFEE has an inventory of conventional gas analyzers. Pictured below is a transportable modular system with sample pressure and temperature control, for raw emissions testing of locomotives.
Fuel Consumption and Flow
Liquid Fuels
We calibrate our gravimetric fuel consumption measurement devices to National Institute of Standards and Technology- traceable standards, compliant to the most stringent regulations. While the majority of our equipment is sized for heavy-duty diesel engines and vehicles, we have quantified fuel consumption accurately for engines as small as leaf-blowers to as large as locomotives and everywhere in-between.
Our equipment includes:
- Locomotive Gravimetric Fuel Consumption: This transportable apparatus was designed and built by CAFEE for the measurement of large quantities of fuel with NIST-traceable accuracy compliant to 40 CFR 1065.
- AVL Mass Flow Meter: Our AVL fuel mass flow meter and AVL temperature control system continuously measures fuel consumption and conditions the fuel supply. Unlike some systems, it can perform high-precision fuel consumption measurement at both high- and low-flow rates.
- Gravimetric NIST traceable scale: light-duty to heavy-duty on-road
- Diesel AVL Max machines flowmeter (continuous measurement)
- KRAL positive displacement flowmeter (continuous measurement)
Gaseous Fuels
CAFEE has an inventory of gaseous mass flow instruments at our disposal of various capacities for natural gas fuel consumption, including:
- KURZ Natural Gas Flow Meter
- Endress Hauser Coriolis Flow Meter
- Endress Hauser Thermal Mass Flow Meter
Engine Computer Interfacing
Communication with J1939, J1708 and ISO 15765-4 compatible engine control units (ECU); recording of time-aligned broadcast data; interpreting standard protocol information.
Mobile CVS Laboratory
The Transportable Emissions Measurement System, designed and built in-house by WVU, is targeted toward on-road and chassis dynamometer emissions measurements of advanced heavy-duty engines.