Evaporative emissions of 1,3-butadiene from petrol-fuelled motor vehicles

This study reports the identification and quantification of 1,3-butadiene in petrol and in the evaporative emissions from Australian light-duty passenger vehicles. The mass fraction of 1,3-butadiene in each of the different grades of any brand of Australian petrol was found to be relatively constant for a given marketing area. However, the mass fractions vary significantly between the different brands (or refineries) from 0.004 ± 0.001% to 0.047 ± 0.008%. The measurements of the evaporative emissions of 1,3-butadiene from in-service motor vehicles were performed using standard Australian Design Rule 37/00 (ADR 37/00) Sealed Housing Evaporative Determination (SHED) tests. For post-1985 catalyst equipped vehicles fuelled with unleaded petrol, average evaporative emissions of 1,3-butadiene were 9.4 (0.7-22) and 5.0 (0.1-23) mg per test for diurnal and hot soak SHED tests, respectively. The corresponding average evaporative emissions for the older, pre-1986 non-catalyst equipped vehicles fuelled with leaded petrol were 26.5 (11.7-45.4) and 9.2 (4.3-13.1)mg per test, respectively, about double the observed emissions from newer vehicles. For the complete vehicle set (all ages), the average mass fraction of 1,3-butadiene in the total hydrocarbon (sum of C₁-C₁₀ hydrocarbons) emission was 0.21 ± 0.14% from the diurnal phase and was 0.11 ± 0.06% from the hot-soak phase. Evaporative emissions were estimated to contribute about 4% (ranging from 1-15%) of the total (exhaust and evaporative) emissions of 1,3-butadiene from Australian motor vehicles.