Vehicle Technical Inspection Centre (KTEO) – Exhaust emission control

In the last few decades there has been a huge issue with air pollution. For this reason, the state has set emission limits for each category of vehicle on the road and requires the owner to check every six months for commercial vehicles or annually for passenger vehicles and to carry the Exhaust Gas Control Card. It has also authorised bodies such as the Ministry of Environment and Public Works and KTEO to test vehicles with regard to emissions of pollutants.

The testing is carried out with the help of the exhaust gas analyser for petrol and LPG powered vehicles and with the aid of the aethalometer for diesel vehicles. The most important pollutants are carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) in petrol and LPG vehicles and soot in diesel vehicles.

The exhaust gas analyser measures not only carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) but also the reason why it is not a pollutant. The indication of the proper functioning of our car’s engine and catalytic converter is obtained from the exhaust gas analyzer. The aethalometer measures the amount of soot in the exhaust gases. Soot is responsible for the dark smoke emitted by diesel vehicles.

During the process of measuring the exhaust gases of a vehicle, the engine comes to its normal operating temperature. So does the catalytic converter, if it is an anti-pollution vehicle. The exhaust of the vehicle should be leakproof, without leaks. For petrol vehicles, the legislator requires two measurements, one at 2500rpm and one at idling speed. For diesel vehicles, two (-2-) consecutive measurements at the engine speed limit (only if these measurements do not meet the legislator’s limits, shall another three measurements (a total of five -5-) be taken, from which an average value for the exhaust opacity levels of a diesel vehicle is derived.