The Iran Standard & Quality Inspection Company has launched two laboratories for the quality inspection of vehicles and parts with the support of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran.
The laboratory for testing suspended particulate matters emitted by diesel vehicles, which has been inaugurated, uses the AVL DiTEST Counter’s Advanced Diffusion Charging Technology.
All the equipment used in the laboratories have been manufactured domestically, which also conduct car engine torque and rotations per minute (RPM) tests, pollution test with portable analyzers and performance tests using dynamometers, Donyaye Khodro reported.
In the quality inspection laboratory of converter catalyst, it is possible to analyze the functionality of the catalyst’s precious metals by using the ICP device in accordance with PSA-D175367 and R83 standards.
The catalyst aging process is undertaken to perform pollution, durability and lifespan tests on automotive parts. The capacity for the determination of precious metals is 100 tests per year.
“With the operation of these two laboratories, their tangible effects will become apparent with the reduction of passenger and commercial vehicle emissions,” Mehdi Eslampanah, the head of ISIRI, said.
Saeed Tajik, CEO of the Iran Standard & Quality Inspection Company, said some of the research and development activities of car manufacturers could be performed in these laboratories.
“Apart from the mandatory tests, if car manufacturers seek to examine fuel systems, exhaust and emissions, and make changes to parts, they could bring these items to the laboratory for conducting the relevant tests,” he said.
“For example, if they want to modify the Electronic Control Unit of a car, the laboratory can perform the relevant tests and evaluations, and issue a certificate. It can also be said that this field involves knowledge-based work.”
Tajik noted that all types of vehicles, including vans, passenger cars, heavy diesel vehicles, trucks with diesel engines and motorcycles, are tested by the laboratory.
Transportation Fleet Main Source of Urban Air Pollution
The transportation network is the main source of air pollution in Iranian metropolises, because of the lack of electric vehicles, high fuel consumption of nonstandard vehicles and the widespread use of fossil fuels, according to an energy expert and a professor of Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology.
"We have 8-12 million motorcycles in the country that consume gasoline, and electricity has no share in our transportation network,” Hashem Oraee was also quoted as saying by Donyaye Khodro.
“Another important factor is the gas usage of power plants. According to the latest statistics, the power plants’ share of pollution is about 20% and the share of transportation pollution is about 60%,” he added.
Oraee, who is also the founder and president of Iran Wind Energy Association, noted that 33% of the country's gas are used in power plants and the volume of gas pollution is lower than that caused by diesel and mazut, which replace gas in the winter.
"We are suffering from the imbalance in gas production and consumption, and the other is the 90% dependence of domestic electricity grid on gas,” he said.
Stressing that currently, the most effective solution to lower air pollution caused by fuel consumption is to move toward electric vehicles, he said EVs do not have a share in Iran’s transportation network and the domestic car manufacturing sector is lagging behind in EV technology.
“A car normally consumes 4 liters of gasoline for 100 kilometers, which in Iran amounts to 8 liters in normal conditions and 10 liters in traffic. This means we’re consuming 2 to 2.5 times more gasoline than other countries to travel the same distance. This issue is related to problems in the automotive industry that sees no reason to enhance vehicle quality due to the government’s imprudent support,” he said.
“This is while automobile manufacturers of the world have to improve their products’ quality to compete in the market. This issue makes them move toward electrification and improve their production technologies.”
Orae said as long as Iranians are lining up to buy cars with internal combustion engines, domestic automakers will not see the need to upgrade their technologies.
