To determine the impact on global warming, first (1) obtain the baseline reductions for the main Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) from the Q18 documentation.
Baseline GHG Reductions:
The following data show the measured reductions for fuel B100:
- CO₂ Reduction: -12% (equivalent to combustion reduction)
- CO Reduction: -26%
- Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) Reduction: -15%
- Methane (CH₄) Reduction: -40%
(for other fuels – see the table)
According to the patent documentation, reductions depend on the type of base fuel used with the Q18 component, and the measured GHG reductions may vary. The “heavier” the fuel used, the greater the reductions will be.
It is important to note that in terms of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) reduction, the listed gases have a much greater impact on climate warming than carbon dioxide itself!
- CO – GWP: 1.9 (IPCC)
- NOₓ (N₂O) – GWP: 298 (IPCC)
- Unburned Hydrocarbons (UHC) (CH₄) – GWP: 28 (IPCC)
This means, for example, that the emission of 1 ton of nitrous oxide (N₂O) has the same negative impact on climate warming as 298 tons of CO₂ (sic!)
To measure the actual GHG reduction, it is not sufficient to subtract the Baseline Reduction values from each pollutant. Therefore, (2) determine the content of each gas in the emissions for each type of fuel separately.
Next, (3) use the IPCC table to check the GWP values and (4) multiply them by the physical content of each gas in the emitted exhaust gases. This gives you the so-called Carbon Dioxide Equivalents, or CO₂e. For calculation purposes, sum these new values and assume they together represent 100% of the entire GHG group (emitted with the exhaust).
(5) Then, reduce each gas individually. However, simply subtracting its share by the value resulting only from Baseline Reduction does not account for the actual reduction further enhanced by fuel consumption reduction (from 7 to 12%).
To perform this calculation correctly, use the following formula:
RR = 1 – (1 – RB/100) x (1 – RS/100)
(where: RR – Actual Reduction, RB – Baseline Reduction, RS – Fuel Consumption Reduction)
This will give you the amounts of each gas in the emissions after reduction. If (6) you sum these and then subtract from the pre-reduction value (assumed to be 100%), you get (7) the precise value of GHG reduction after applying the Q18 component!
Actual GHG Reductions:
(for fuel B100)
- CO₂ Reduction: -12% (equivalent to combustion reduction)
- CO Reduction: -34.88%
- Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) Reduction: -25.20%
- Methane (CH₄) Reduction: -47.20%
(for other fuels – see the table)
To then calculate the total reduction of Greenhouse Gases in the emissions, calculate (8) the content of each gas after reduction (check the original share of each gas in the emissions and subtract the Actual Reduction value). Sum these results (9). For fuel B100, this will now be 66.54%. Thus, the overall reduction degree is: (100 – 66.54) = 33.46%!