AEROSOLFD: Reducing pollution from urban mobility in Valladolid

Challenge / Goal

This European project, AEROSOLFD, with the participation of 17 partners from nine countries, aims to develop three adaptable and cost-effective solutions. These solutions are focused on improving bus brakes, gasoline vehicle exhausts and air purification in enclosed and semi-enclosed spaces. The initiative aligns with a roadmap to achieve cleaner mobility and a healthier environment by 2025. This reinforces the vision of becoming a smart and climate-neutral city by 2030, advancing climate action to improve quality of life and prevent premature deaths related to urban pollution.

One key site in this European project will be used to demonstrate improvements in vehicle brakes, and another as a test bed to verify emissions reductions in some buses. At designated test sites, air purifiers will be deployed, providing information on improving air quality by reducing brake emissions. In addition, the amount of air filters needed to achieve this goal will be determined. The participants express their satisfaction for being part of AEROSOLFD, highlighting the reduction of emissions in the vehicle fleet, the improvement of the working environment and the strengthening of sustainability actions.

AEROSOLFD's objectives

• Develop, test and validate in real driving conditions three adaptable, affordable and sustainable technological solutions for cleaner mobility.
• Raise public and political awareness of the impact of tailpipe and brake emissions on the environment and human health and encourage incentive schemes for the rapid adoption of these technologies.

AEROSOLFD's actions

• Development of tailpipe adaptive particulate filter-based solutions for gasoline vehicles for rapid reduction of pollution emitted by existing fleets.
• Development of particulate filter-based solutions for the braking systems of transport vehicles and buses.
• Development of air purifiers for installation in closed and semi-closed environments.

Valladolid will be one of the demonstrators for the reconditioning of vehicle brakes. The fleet of city buses in Valladolid, operated by AUVASA, will be a test bench to check the reduction of emissions, which is estimated at 90% with the upgrade of the existing brakes. AUVASA's bus depots will also be used as a demonstration area for the installation of the air purifiers. This is a non-publicly accessible environment that will provide information on the improvement of air quality by reducing emissions from the brakes and will also determine the number of air filters required for this purpose.

AERSOLFD is developing filters to be installed either in cars and public transport vehicles or in semi-enclosed spaces, so that they contribute to improve air quality and prevent that "particulate matter" harmful to health is emitted into the atmosphere. The goal of reducing the percentage of emissions by upgrading the braking system is highlighted. Specific studies will be carried out to analyze the behavior of vehicles in various conditions, considering factors such as load, frequency of traffic zones, interurban routes and areas with slopes.

In the case of vehicles, what is being sought are solutions known as "retrofit", which means that they can be applied to cars and buses currently in circulation. It is essential to ensure that they have a contained installation and maintenance cost, and that they do not affect the performance, durability or warranty of the vehicles. These improvements are introduced in existing fleets since those of new manufacture the demanding standards in force already limit the amount of particulate matter emitted.

Expected results:

• 95% reduction in the number of particulate matter (PN) emitted from the tailpipe of gasoline vehicles.
• 90% reduction in mass (PM) and number (PN) of particulate matter (PM) emitted by brakes.
• Demonstrate the potential of air purifiers in improving air quality for specific environments such as bus stops, tunnels or subway stations.

It underlines the contribution to a European project that seeks to improve the quality of life, position at the forefront and promote a healthier environment. It is emphasized that enhancing urban transport with innovative solutions is a matter of social justice. This project joins other funding projects focused on sustainable and connected mobility.