Although reducing vehicle tailpipe exhaust emissions remains a high priority in improving air quality, non-tailpipe emissions, such as those from brake wear, are likely to form an increasing proportion of total particulate emissions from road traffic, and may have specific health impacts associated with them. Therefore technology to reduce these emissions will also be required into the future, alongside exhaust emission reduction methods.

‘Brake dust filters’, such as the one reported here, could be used to capture brake dust before it is emitted into the environment, and may also help maintain vehicle parts in good condition for longer.

The companies who developed this particular device, for use with disc brakes, claim to have tested it under stop-start conditions comparable to urban driving, and also under different weather conditions, and the device reportedly shows filtration efficiencies of 80%. However, swift uptake by vehicle manufacturers may be limited by the cost, as yet not specified, or the weight of the unit, and the system would need to be fully tested before it could be used in commercial vehicles.

Read the full article from Fleetpoint here.