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Letter to the Editor

EPA Selects Sensors, Inc.'s On-Vehicle Emission Analyzers

Sensors, Inc. has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to supply on-vehicle emissions analysis systems for both diesel and gasoline powered vehicle testing.

"This is truly a major milestone for our company," said Sensors, Inc.'s president Andrew Reading, Ph.D. "We've worked hard to position ourselves as the industry leader in developing analytical equipment that monitors the actual emissions produced while vehicles are being driven on the road.

"No matter how sophisticated you make a laboratory test procedure, it will never truly replicate in-use operating conditions," he added. "The only accurate way to get results is to monitor the vehicle as it goes through its normal duty cycle under real-world conditions."

At the outset, the EPA award involves the acquisition of two each of Sensors' SEMTECH-D and SEMTECH-G units. This contract is the culmination of several studies that EPA conducted over the past 18 months, some involving the use of Sensors' equipment to test both heavy duty and light duty vehicle emissions. The equipment Sensors, Inc. will provide to EPA will assist in furthering these studies and will extend the testing program to include off-road vehicles.

SEMTECH-D and -G provide immediate analysis of key exhaust gas components, including total hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Using Sensors, Inc.'s proprietary NDUV (non-dispersive ultra violet spectroscopy) module, the NO and NO2 constituents of NOx can be measured simultaneously and independently.

At 22"Dx17W"x14"H, SEMTECH-D is little larger than a piece of carry-on luggage. SEMTECH-G is even smaller. Either can be rack mounted, and they are ruggedized for use in both on- and off-road applications. Both provide lab-level accuracy.

"On-board, real-time monitoring is where not only EPA but also other regulatory agencies are heading," commented Robert Wilson, vice president of marketing and sales at Sensors. "Our SEMTECH models were designed in anticipation of the day when such equipment would be required.

"Fleets in chronic non-attainment areas, such as Houston and Los Angeles, stand to gain if they can prove their vehicles produce fewer emissions," said Wilson. "That's true whether the fleet consists of buses or backhoes."

Engine manufacturers, especially those seven diesel engine OEMs affected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 1998 consent decree, have also expressed interest in the SEMTECH systems. In fact two manufacturers, including Detroit Diesel Corporation, have already selected SEMTECH-D to measure on-road, in-use emissions during their heavy-duty truck diesel engine design and development programs.

Earlier in the year, engineers from Detroit Diesel and Sensors, Inc. concluded a 2,500 mile transcontinental test in an instrumented DDC-powered truck in order to validate SEMTECH-D performance and to collect in-use emissions data for further analysis.

Sensors launched SEMTECH-D anticipating that the unit would have broad appeal, not only for engine manufacturers such as Detroit Diesel and vehicle OEMs, but also for regulatory agencies, commercial laboratories and universities.

"We expect SEMTECH-D to become standard equipment for development and testing of engines, vehicles and exhaust after-treatment systems," Wilson concluded. "The award we've just won from EPA is a clear sign that we're heading in the right direction."

Sensors, Inc. has been a leader for many years in the design and manufacture of OEM gas analyzers for the inspection and maintenance (I/M) industry. Over the past four years the company has shifted its R&D focus to on-road, in-use technology, made possible by Sensors, Inc.'s development of robust and accurate, solid-state analytical techniques. SEMTECH-D and SEMTECH-G are two of several such products the company now offers.

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