Thermal Analysis of Active Catalytic Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration

A novel K-containing glass catalyst [1] was applied to ceramic filters for diesel soot combustion.  The results show that the catalytic coating on the ceramic substrate can reduce the temperature where half of the engine soot is oxidized (T₅₀) to as low as 450^oC under loose contact conditions, and offers catalytic stability for long term combustion cycling. A major technological challenge in operation is that a rapid shift to idle may create local hot region with a temperature much higher than under stationary feed conditions. This excessive transient temperature rise may cause local melting or cracking of the ceramic filter. For this reason, a one-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been developed to simulate the exhaust flow and chemical reactions in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) under different active flow schemes, e.g. drop-to-idle conditions. The regeneration strategy was thus tailored for the application of the novel low soot oxidation temperature catalyst to avoid overheating. Implications of the suggested regeneration strategy to fuel economy were also investigated.

Reference:

[1] C. Su, P.J. McGinn, Appl. Catal.B-Environ.,138 (2013) 70.