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Pertanika 9(1), 35-43 (1986)

A Study of the Problems Related to the Testing of Smoke EmissionFrom Diesel Powered Vehicles in Malaysia

M.I. YAZIZ and RAVINDER K.Department of Environmental Sciences,

Universiti Pertanian Malaysia,43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Key words: Air pollution; diesel smoke; control of smoke emission; motor vehicle pollution.

ABSTRAKKajian ini dijalankan untuk memeriksa tahap pelepasan asap daripada kenderaan diesel serta

masalah-masalah yang dihadapi dalam penguatkuasaan peraturan "Motor Vehicles (Smoke and GasEmission) Rules 1977". Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa lebih kurang 35% daripada kenderaan loriyang diperiksa mengeluarkan asap yang berlebihan dibandingkan dengan 33% untuk teksi, 16%untuk bas dan bos mini, serta 13% untuk kereta. Penelitian data yang diperolehi tidak menunjukkanapa-apa kaitan di antara tahap pelepasan lasap dengan parameter-parameter seperti umur danpenjagaan kenderaan, atau jangka masa pemeriksaan terakhir oleh pihak RTD. Pemeriksaan rekodpenguatkuasaan oleh pihak DOE menunjukkan bahawa pada bilangan purata, hanya 52.7%daripada aktiviti-aktiviti penguatkuasaan yang dirancangkan telah dijalankan daripada 1979sehingga 1983. Ini disebabkan oleh berbagai faktor seperti masalah tenaga manusia dan kewangan,peralatan, pengangkutan dan cuaca. Pemilihan lokasi penguatkuasaan selalunya terganggu olehkeperluan untuk memilih tempat yang tidak menyebabkan kesesakan jalan raya dan tidak mengikutbilangan kenderaan. Masalah terbesar yang dihadapi oleh pihak RTD ialah kekurangan tempatuntuk menjalankan pemeriksaan. Hasil kajian inijuga mencadangkan bahawa se bilangan daripadapemandu-pemandu kenderaan mempraktikan cara-cara yang tidak sah seperti menyederhanakaninjin kenderaan semasa pemeriksaan RTD ataupun menambah bahan cecair ke dalam tangki dieseluntuk mengurangkan tahap pelepasan asap untuk jangka masa yang singkat.

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to examine the smoke emission level from diesel powered vehiclesplying Malaysian roads and the problems related to the enforcement of the Motor Vehicles (Smokeand Gas Emission) Rules 1977. The results show that approximately 35% of the lorries examined hadexcessive smoke emission compared to 33% for taxis, 16% for buses and mini buses, and 13% for cars.Further examination of the data did not show any relationship between the degree of smoke emissionand parameters such as age and maintainance of the vehicle, or duration since the last mandatoryinspection by the RTD. A study of the past records of enforcement carried out by the DOE showedthat an average of only 52.7% of the planned exercises were actually carried out during 1979 to 1983.This was due to various reasons including manpower and budget problems, equipment, transporta-tion, and weather. The selection of suitable sites for curb-side enforcement is nearly always hamperedby the need to select locations which would not cause severe traffic problems and hence did not neces-sarily match the traffic flow. The main problem faced by the RTD is the lack of space to carry outinspection of the motor vehicles. The results also give a strong indication that some drivers of dieselvehicles may adopt underhand tactics such as tempering with the engine parts or adding volatileadditives into the fuel tanks to achieve short term reductions for smoke emission during the RTD tests.

M.I. YAZIZ AND RAVINDER K.

INTRODUCTION

Studies conducted both, within Malaysiaand in other countries have established thatmotor vehicles constitute one of the majorsources of air pollution especially in the urbancentres. These pollutants in the form of carbonmonoxide, particulates, hydrocarbons, oxides ofnitrogen, sulphur dioxide and lead compoundsmay cause a variety of health related problems inhumans and animals, and secondary pollutantssuch as photochemical oxidants can also causeappreciable damage to metal parts, fabrics, andbuilding surfaces (Pitts, 1981). Diesel poweredvehicles in particular, produce considerablymore particulate matter per unit volume of fuelused than petrol driven vehicles (Kresel, 1981).The major part of the particulates consist ofcarbon and soot particles whose sizes are in thesubmicron respirable range and are thereforemore likely to be deposited in the lungs (EPA,1979). The findings that the diesel exhaustemission may be carcinogenic and mutagenicstrongly suggests that action should be taken toeffectively control smoke emissions from dieselengines (Choudhury and O'Doudney, 1981).

In Malaysia, control of diesel smoke emis-sion is realised through the formulation andenforcement of the Motor Vehicles (Smoke andGas Emission) Rules 1977. These rules weregazetted under the Road Traffic Ordinance1958, and brought into force of 15 March 1978.The enforcement of these rules is carried outjointly by the Road Transport Department(RTD) in the Ministry of Transport, the Depart-ment of the Environment (DOE) in the Ministryof Science, Technology, and the Environment,and the Royal Malaysian Traffic Police.

This study was carried out to evaluate thesmoke emission patterns from different cate-gories of diesel powered vehicles plying Malay-sian roads, and to study the problems faced bythe RTD and the DOE in enforcing the SmokeEmission Regulations under the Motor Vehicles(Control of Smoke and Gas Emission) Rules1977.

Under these Rules, an emission standard of50 Hartridge Smoke Units (HSU) was stipulatedunder free acceleration test conditions carriedout by an authorized officer. The smokemeterspecified by the Rules is the Hartridge MK3. Themeter should also be tested and calibratedannually by an authorised body. In the enforce-ment exercises carried out by the DOE, all dieselpowered vehicles are waved aside by the trafficpolice and a visual inspection is first carried outin which the smoke emission from the exhaust isobserved visually while the engine of thestationary vehicle is accelerated to maximum.Those vehicles which do not emit visible smokeare allowed to proceed while those that emitdark smoke will be asked to proceed to the nextstage of testing where the Hartridge Meter test iscarried out. If the smoke emission is found to bewithin the range of 50 — 60 units, the driver ofthe vehicle is given a verbal warning but if itexceed 60 units, a summons is issued by thetraffic police. The vehicle owner can either havethis offence dealt with at a police station orchoose to appear in court.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Apparatus

For the measurement of smoke emission,the Hartridge Smokemeter MK3 was used. It wassupplied and manned by officers of the DOE.The tests carried out at the RTD site were per-formed using similar equipment by the RTDofficers.

Location of Study

Enforcemet exercises with the DOE mobilemonitoring unit were carried out in the KualaLumpur — Petalingjaya area, notably at JalanKampung Baru near Jalan Ipoh and at JalanMunshi Abdullah. Pertinent background infor-mation of each of the vehicles tested was obtain-ed from the relevant public agencies.

Procedure of the Study

The enforcement procedure of the DOEconsists of curb-side checks on diesel powered

36 PERTANIKA VOL. 9 NO. 1, 1986

PROBLEMS OF TESTING DIESEL SMOKE EMISSION IN MALAYSIA

vehicles. The RTD enforces the Rules by incor-porating the smoke emission test in their routineinspection of motor vehicles. All commercialvehicles are required by law to undergo inspec-tion once every six months to ensure that thevehicles are in roadworthy condition. This in-spection is carried out at the RTD office in eachstate.

For this study, two on-the spot DOE exer-cises were carried out. In these outings, obser-vations were made with regard to the proceduresfollowed in the enforcement exercises and theresult of the Hartridge Smokemeter test wasrecorded together with the registration numberof each vehicle tested. The problems encounter-ed during the conduct of these exercises werealso recorded.

For problems related to the enforcement ofthe law, the relevant officers of the RTD andDOE were interviewed. Additional informationwas also obtained by observing the routine enfor-cement work carried out at the RTD site as wellas from previous records of enforcement by bothorganizations.

All data obtained was examined and analys-ed using the Statistical Package for SocialSciences (SPSS) programme at the computercentre in UPM (Nie, 1975). Linear and multipleregression analyses were employed. The F-testwas carried out to determine the significance ofrelationships between the Hartridge Meter read-ings with other parameters.

RESULTS

Enforcement Exercises by the DOE

Table 1 shows the frequency of enforcementexercises carried out by the DOE mobile unit forthe period 1980 to 1983. During this periodexercises were most frequently carried out in thelarger cities and towns on the West coast ofPeninsular Malaysia. The highest number ofexercises was carried out in Kuala Lumpurfollowed by Pulau Pinang, Petaling Jaya,Malacca and Kuantan, and Klang andSeremban. An examination of the RTD Year-book (1982) showed that the greatest number ofdiesel vehicles (e.g. lorries and taxis) are register-ed in the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor area and this

TABLE 1Enforcement exercises by the DOE during 1980 to 1983

Town/City '1980Period1981 '1982 1983

Kuala LumpurPetaling JayaKlangSerembanMelakaMuarBatu PahatJohor BahruIpohPulau PinangSeberang PeraiAlor StarKuantanKuala TerengganuKota Bahru

31764

66

520458

14315764

108

2168

10—

145626

—

——— '

————

2699

1010546

5985536

Total 102 103 33 120

*Data for the months of April, May and June not available.**Data of the enforcement exercises of one unit only.

PERTANIKAVOL. 9 NO. 1. 1985 37


probably accounts for the greater surveillance inthis locality. Nonetheless, another importantfactor in deciding the intensity of surveillanceare complaints received from the public con-cerning smoke emission from motor vehicles.This was partly the reason for the greaternumber of exercises in Fulau Pinang which has afree trade zone and consequently a large trafficflow. The least number of exercises was carriedout in Kota Bahru and Kuala Terengganu whereenforcement exercises began only in 1983.

Detailed analysis of the results show thatmost of the exercises were carried out in the firsteight months of the year notably during June toAugust with very few in the remaining months.This was mainly attributed, to exhaustion of thebudget allocated for the enforcement exercises.In 1980 and 1983, several intensive campaignswere launched in Kuala Lumpur and PulauPinang against smoky vehicles. As a result, more

vehicles were stopped and checked during thesetwo years compared to other years (Table 2).

Forty-five per cent of the vehicles stopped in1980 were tested using the Hartridge Smoke-meter when they failed the visual inspection. Ofthese, 67% were summonsed and the rest releas-ed, some with a warning to maintain theirvehicles so that no visible smoke would be emitted. The highest number of vehicles stopped wasin 1983 where a total of 12,084 vehicles wereexamined and of which, 20.8% was summonsed.A breakdown of the vehicles summonsed inKuala Lumpur in 1983 (Table 3) showed thatdiesel powered lorries and taxis topped the list at35.3 and 32.8 per cent. Cars, buses and minibuses came up to 29.4% followed by vans andpick-ups.

Further analysis showed that proportionate-ly more lorries, taxis, and buses were in breach

TABLE 2Breakdown of vehicles stopped, tested, summonsed, warned, or released

during the period 1979 to 1983.

Year Stopped

Vehicles

Tested Summonsed Warned Released

1979

1980*

1981

1982*

1983

Nos.% (a)%(b)

Nos.%(a)% (b)

Nos.% (a)% (b)

Nos.%(a)% (b)Nos.%(a)% (b)

2,389

7,700

5,779

2,982

12,084

1,61267.5

3,46945.1

2,05635.6

79326.6

2,89724.0

76031.847.1

2,32530.267.0

1,51626.273.7

58919.874.3

2,50920.886.6

44518.627.6

5577.216.1

1823.18.8

832.810.5

3312.7

11.4

40717.025.2

5877.616.9

3586.217.4

1214.115.3

570.42.0

*Data for April, May, June not available.**Data for one enforcement unit only.% (a): Percentage of vehicles tested, summonsed, warned or released against the numbers stopped.% (b): Percentage of vehicles summonsed, warned or released against the numbers tested.

38 PERTANIKAVOL. 9 NO. 1, 1986


TABLE 3A categorical breakdown of vehicles summonsed in Kuala Lumpur

during 1983

Type

Nos.

%

Lorry

222

35.3

Buses

58

9.2

Mini Buses

42

6.7

Taxis

206

32.8

Cars

85

13.5

Vans

16

2.5

of regulations compared to other vehicles. Thus,true to popular opinion, the greater percentageof smoke emission in urban Kuala Lumpurcomes mainly from the commercial vehicles i.e.lorries, taxis, buses, and mini buses all of whichare diesel powered.

The data in Table 4 show that not all of theplanned enforcement exercises were carried outthroughout any year. An exercise may be can-celled for a variety of reasons as shown. In 1980,77.9% of the planned exercises were carried outcompared with 46.4% in 1981, 41.9% in 1982and 48.6% in 1983. The majority of the can-cellations was due to police personnel and trans-port problems. There were also cases of equip-ment being repaired and still in the workshopbecause of the problem of spare parts, weatherand budget constraints, and problems of un-scheduled leave and holidays. In 1983, 5.5% ofthe cancellations was due to faulty equipment.Since the DOE, then, only possessed 3 sets ofequipment (one in East Malaysia), such break-downs have severe repercussions on the enforce-ment exercises. The smokemeter is also verysensitive to humidity and cannot be used onrainy days. In 1983, approximately 4 per cent of

the planned enforcement exercises were cancell-ed due to weather constraints.

To gain an insight into the relationshipbetween the Hartridge meter reading and thecondition of the motor vehicles, two exerciseswere conducted in the Kuala Lumpur areabetween February and May 1984 (Table 5).Several factors were taken into considerationduring the planning of these exercises. Firstly,the enforcement exercise was not carried out inbusy commercial areas to avoid the creation oftraffic jams. Secondly, it should be located in anarea where vehicles can be prevented from turn-ing back on realising that an enforcement exer-cise is in progress.

A common problem encountered was theanxiety displayed by the drivers of the vehicles.Many were concerned about the effect of the testmethod on their engines (i.e. when the accele-rator pedal is pressed down to the maximumwith the engine switched on). It has been dis-covered that some drivers try to reduce smokeemission by pulling out the choke or, as in thecase of bus drivers, to place a piece of wood orpad between the floorboard and the accelerator

TABLE4Illustration of the number of planned exercises, those actually carried out,

and some reasons for the cancellation of the others

Year

1980

1981

1982

1983

Plan. exer.

149

222

74

247

Carr. out

116

103

31

120

Cancelled

33

119

43

127

Pol.

20

31

11

38

Budg.

—

—

—

44

Reasons

Equipt.

1

2

-

7

for Cancellation

Trans.

5

69

20

6

Wea.

2

7

1

5

Hols.

5

8

-

-

Others

_ •

2

11

120

PERTANIKA VOL. 9 NO. 1, 1986 39


TABLE 5Number of vehicles stopped and summoned in two exercises in 1984

Vehicle type Numbers stopped Numbers si

28

56

75

45

9

7

14

20

20

21

7

2

1

11

Numbers summoned Percentage summoned

Taxis

Buses

Mini Buses

Lorries

Private Cars

Vans

Tractors

71.4

35.7

28.0

15.6

22.2

14.3

78.6

pedal. Both actions tend to reduce the amountof smoke emitted. Passengers in the buses andtaxis also tend to get irritated by the delay intheir travel. The duration of each exercise isdetermined by the officer incharge and normallydoes not exceed 3 hours.

The two exercises conducted in 1984 (Table5) showed that in proportion to the number ofdiesel powered cars stopped and summoned, thehighest number of offending vehicles comprisetaxis, followed by buses, mini buses, diesel cars,lorries, and vans. The mean age of some of thevehicles together with the Hartridge meter read-ings are presented in Table 6.

The median age of the taxis summoned wasabout 1.9 years with a range in age from 0.2 to6.4 years. Similar observations were recorded for

the buses and mini buses in that failure of thesmoke emission test was not restricted to oldervehicles only.

The results show that the summonsedvehicles may emit excessive amounts of smokewith readings in excess of 80 Hartridge SmokeUnits regardless of age. Only limited informa-tion was available for the lorries summoned andthus the data was not included in the analysis. Ofinterest also is the fact that some of the vehicleswhich were summonsed had either only recentlypassed the RTD inspection or were due to under-go inspection soon. In a few instances, severalvehicles which were stopped during the in situenforcement exercises and found to have exces-sive smoke emission had passed the official testonly a few days prior to the exercise (Table 7).

TABLE 6A breakdown of some of the vehicles compounded in two exercises in 1984 in relation to their age,

Hartridge meter reading and the duration to the next RTD test date

Parameter

Age (yrs)

Hartridge MeterReading (HSU)

Duration to RTD testDate (mths)

Vehicle type

TaxisBusesMini buses



Nos. exam.

20

2021

20

2021

202021

Mean

2.4

4.94.3

87.876.782.7

3.52.62.7

Median

1.94.04.0

95.081.081.3

3.61.72.3

Min.

0.21.01.0

48.025.048.0

1.01.01.0

Max.

6.413.08.0

98.098.098.0

6.06.05.0



TABLE 7Data selected to show the time lapse between the last date of official inspection and

the date of compoundment of vehicle

Vehicle type

Taxi

Mini bus

Mini bus

Lorry

Date passedRTD test

10-10-83

08-10-83

30-09-83

21-09-83

Date of summons

12-10-83

12-10-83

06-10-83

06-10-83

Duration(days)

2

4

6

15

Hartridge Meterread. (HSU)

98

98

95

98

Examination by the RTD

The RTD carries out examination of smokeemission during its routine inspection of new andused commercial vehicles at its test site inPetaling Jaya, Selangor. About 130-150vehicles are inspected daily. The procedure forthe Hartridge Smokemeter test is similar to thatdescribed earlier but the driver of the vehicleruns the engine and presses the acceleratorpedal. No visual inspection for smoke emission iscarried out prior to the Hartridge meter test andthe vehicle owners are informed on the next testdate on the same day — six months in advance.

Problems Faced by the RTD

One of the most acute problems faced bythe RTD is the lack of adequate space. Sinceabout 130 vehicles are inspected daily, a largenumber of vehicles crowd the small compoundresulting in traffic congestion.

There is also concern about the accuracy ofthe Hartridge meter readings taken off thevehicles. Discussions held with the officers con-cerned indicated several means by which driversof vehicles may mislead the test results. Theseinclude (a) adding volatile chemicals into thediesel fuel thereby making the combustionprocess more complete through a more efficientdistribution of the fuel droplets in the combus-tion chamber and hence reducing smoke emis-sion, (b)-by fine-tuning the engine so that lessfuel enters the combustion chamber which there-fore reduces particulate emission, and (c) pullingout the choke during the test. The data in Table

7 supports the concern and suspicions expressedby the officers.

DISCUSSION

Smoke emission from diesel vehicles is notan isolated problem but one found in mostSouth-east Asian countries (Middleton, 1982).There are many factors which contribute tosmoke emission from diesel engines, such as thetype of fuel used, the type of engine and itsmaintenance, the extent of enforcement ofsmoke emission regulations, vehicle loads, andthe mode of driving of the vehicle. This studyfurther demonstrates some of the problems relat-ed to the testing of smoke emission from motorvehicles under the existing legislations.

Frequent unavailability of traffic policemanpower was identified as a major reason forthe cancellation of the planned exercises during1980 to 1983. This is because the assistance ofthe traffic police is required to stop motorvehicles off the roads. This power is currently notavailable to officers of the DOE. Since it is un-likely that the traffic police manpower situationwill be changed significantly in the near futureto lend additional support for the activities of theDOE, one way of overcoming the problem is giveofficers of the DOE the authority with legislativepowers to carry out the curb side exercises with-out the presence of the traffic police. Revisionsto this effect have been included in the recentlyproposed ammendments to the EnvironmentalQuality Act 1974. These officers should have dis-tinct uniforms for easy identification by drivers.

PERTANIKA VOL. 9 NO. 1, 1986 41

M.I. YAZIZ AND RAVTNDER K.

Budget allocations for the enforcement exercisesshould be increased accordingly.

To alleviate the problem of faulty or thelack of equipment, inter-agency loans could bemade between the DOE and the RTD which hasmore instruments.

obstinate drivers should be strongly penalised.The fines imposed on offenders should also bestandardised and not vary among states as atpresent. Vehicles which emit excessive smokeshould be suspended from public roads untilrepairs are made to control smoke emission inorder to prevent vehicle owners paying a fine andcontinuing to use their vehicles.

The large number of vehicles inspectedboth, by the DOE and the RTD, has resulted inan enormous number of files. Thus, cross checksand verification checks within or between agen-cies with regards to the condition of particularvehicles or for the purposes of improving surveil-lance strategies or administration matters aredifficult and time consuming. In these instances,systematic computerization of the records willgreatly improve the planning process and otheractivities carried out by the agencies concerned.Currently, both departments have started to im-plement this system.

Sufficient competent manpower did notappear to be a major problem in both agencies.Nonetheless, space problems are still acute at theRTD test site in this study. To reduce this prob-lem the test sites may be decentralised to severallocations on the outer city limits.

On a wider scale, dealers of new andsecond-hand vehicles should be required toexamine their vehicles for smoke emission beforeit can be sold and allowed onto the road. Motormechanics and garages should be encouraged toinstall facilities for checking smoke emission ontheir premises. In addition, the national carmanufacturing project which is envisaged tostart rolling off stocks in September 1985 maywell include measures to reduce exhaust smokeemission.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors wishes to thank the staff of theDOE and the RTD as well as members of theTraffic Police Corps for their cooperation andactive participation in carrying out this study.

Public and driver education with regard toexhaust smoke emission should also be improvedgenerally. During the in situ exercises, manydrivers claimed ignorance of these issues (manycommercial vehicles are company owned).Replies to questions about frequency of engineservicing, overhauling, and general vehiclemaintenance did not receive meaningful res-ponses and therefore was not included in theanalysis. Mileage indicators, for instance, werenot a reliable parameter since they were found tobe jammed in many vehicles, or had alreadyundergone several rounds. This shows a need fora public campaign to inform drivers about smokecontrol regulations, and the hazards of excessivesmoke emission as well as the accompanying in-creases in fuel consumption. Persistent and

REFERENCES

CHOUDHURY, D.R. and O'DOUDNEY, C. (1981): Sal-monella Microsome Mutagenicity Assays ofExhaust Emissions From Diesel and GasolinePowered Motor Vehicles. Environment Inter-national, 5 :255-261.

E.P.A. (1979): The Diesel Emissions Research Pro-gramme. EPA Programme Report by the MobileSource Research Committee.

KRESEL, W.E. (1981): Toxicological Assessment ofDiesel Smoke Emission and their TechnologicalControl. WHO/UNEP BiRegional Workshop onPlanning for Control of Emission from MotorVehicles.

MIDDLETON, J.T. (1982): Motor Vehicle PollutionControl. Assignment Report to the WHOWestern Pacific Regional Centre forEnvironmental Planning and Applied Studies,Malaysia.



ME, N.H. et al (1975): SPSS-Statistical Package for R.T.D. (1982): Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan: Yearthe Social Sciences. Ed. Nie, N.H. Me Graw Hill, Book 1982. Road Transport Department,New York. Ministry of Transport, Malaysia.

PITTS, J.N. et al. (1981): Interaction Between DieselEmission and Gaseous Co-pollutants in Photo-chemical Air Pollution — Some Health Implica-tions. Environment International, 5: 235 - 242. (Received 22June, 1985)

PERTANIKAVOL. 9 NO. 1, 1986 43

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