Albert Widmann with the car engine running. He had nearly died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust fumes. This engine exhaust testing inspired the development of gas vans. Back in Berlin, Reinhard Heydrich immediately set to work within the RSHA for the development of, in the words of Heydrich's subordinate Walter Rauff, a "more humane method of execution" than the "Einsatzgruppen" firing squads which had been used. When a prototype gas van was driven to KTI, Widmann explained to his young chemists that by adjusting the timing of the ignition, one could maximize the amount of poisonous carbon monoxide in the
Diesel exhaust is often combined with a particulate matter (PM) filter in the exhaust. In turbocharged engines, EGR needs a controlled pressure differential across the exhaust manifold and intake manifold, which can be met by such engineering as use of a variable geometry turbocharger, which has inlet guide vanes on the turbine to build exhaust backpressure in the exhaust manifold directing exhaust gas to the intake manifold. It also requires additional external piping and valving, and so requires additional maintenance. John Deere, the farm equipment manufacturer is implementing such a combined SCR-EGR design, in a 9-liter "inline 6" diesel engine that involves