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Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) coolers are commonly used in on-road and off-road diesel engines to reduce the recirculated gas temperature in order to reduce NOx emissions. One of the common performance behaviors for EGR coolers in use on diesel engines is a reduction of the heat exchanger effectiveness, mainly due to particulate matter (PM) deposition and condensation of hydrocarbons (HC) from the diesel exhaust on the inside walls of the EGR cooler. According to previous studies, typically, the effectiveness decreases rapidly initially, then asymptotically stabilizes over time. Prior work has postulated a deposit removal mechanism to explain this stabilization phenomenon. In the present study, five field aged EGR cooler samples that were used on construction machines for over 10,000 hours were analyzed in order to understand the deposit structure as well as the deposit composition after long duration use.

This paper describes the reduction of cyclic combustion variations in spark-ignited engines, especially under idle conditions in which the air-fuel mixture is lean of stoichiometry. Under such conditions, the combination of residual cylinder gas and parametric variations (such as variations in fuel preparation) gives rise to significant combustion instabilities that may lead to customer-perceived engine roughness and transient emissions spikes. Such combustion instabilities may preclude operation at air-fuel ratios that would otherwise be advantageous for fuel economy and emissions. This approach exploits the recognition that a component of the observed combustion instability results from a noise-driven, nonlinear deterministic mechanism that can be actively stabilized by small feedback control actions which result in little if any additional use of fuel.

Nonthermal plasma discharges in combination with catalysts are being developed for diesel aftertreatment. NOx conversion has been shown over several different catalyst materials. Particulate removal has also been demonstrated. The gas phase chemistry of the plasma discharge is described. The plasma is oxidative. NO is converted to NO2, CH3ONO2 and HNO3. Hydrocarbons are partially oxidized resulting in aldehydes and CO along with various organic species. Soot will oxidize if it is held in the plasma. When HC is present, SO2 is not converted to sulfates. Suitable plasma-catalysts can achieve NOx conversion over 70%, with a wider effective temperature range than non-plasma catalysts. NOx conversion requires HC and O2. Electrical power consumption and required exhaust HC levels increase fuel consumption by several percent. A plasma catalyst system has demonstrated over 90% particulate removal in vehicle exhaust.

A simulated diesel exhaust is treated with a nonthermal plasma discharge under steady state conditions. The plasma effluent is then passed through a sodium zeolite-Y (NaY) catalyst followed by a platinum oxidation catalyst. Detailed FTIR measurements of gas composition are taken before, between, and after the treatment stages. The plasma discharge causes oxidation of NO primarily to NO2, with methyl nitrate and nitric acid byproducts. At the same time, HC is partially oxidized, creating species such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, CO and other partial oxidation products. When this mixture passes over the NaY catalyst, part of the NOx is reduced to N2, with the remainder primarily in the form of NO. Methyl nitrate decomposes to form methanol and NOx, and nitric acid is consumed. There is little HC conversion on this catalyst. Small quantities of HCN and N2O are formed. When the mixture then passes over the platinum catalyst, further NOx conversion occurs.

A diesel fuel and air diffusion flame burner system has been designed for laboratory simulation of diesel exhaust gas. The system consists of mass flow controllers and a fuel pump, and employs several unique design and construction features. It produces particulate emissions with size, number distribution, and morphology similar to diesel exhaust. At the same time, it generates NOx emissions and HC similar to diesel. The system has been applied to test plasma discharges. Different design discharge devices have been tested, with results indicating the importance of testing devices with soot and moisture. Both packed bed reactor and flat plate dielectric barrier discharge systems remove some soot from the gas, but the designs tested are susceptible to soot fouling and related electrical failures. The burner is simple and stable, and is suitable for development and aging of plasma and catalysts systems in the laboratory environment.

Cooled EGR provides benefits in better fuel economy and lower emissions by reducing knocking tendency and decreasing peak cylinder temperature in gasoline engines. However, GDI engines have high particle emissions due to limited mixing of fuel and air, and these particle emissions can be a major source of EGR cooler fouling. In order to improve our knowledge of GDI engine EGR cooler fouling, the effects of tube geometry and coolant temperature on EGR cooler performance and degradation were studied using a four cylinder 2.0L turbocharged GDI engine. In addition, deposit microstructure was analyzed to explore the nature of deposits formed under GDI engine operation. The results of this study showed that a dented tube geometry was more effective in cooling the exhaust gas than a smooth tube due to its large surface area and turbulent fluid motion. However, more deposits were accumulated and higher effectiveness loss was observed in the dented tube.

The automotive industry has been witnessing a major shift towards downsized boosted direct injection engines due to diminishing petroleum reserves and increasingly stringent emission targets. Boosted engines operate at a high mean effective pressure (MEP), resulting in higher in-cylinder pressures and temperatures, effectively leading to increased possibility of abnormal combustion events like knock and pre-ignition. Therefore, the compression ratio and boost pressure in modern engines are restricted, which in-turn limits the engine efficiency and power. To mitigate conditions where the engine is prone to knocking, the engine control system uses spark retard and/or mixture enrichment, which decrease indicated work and increase specific fuel consumption. Several researchers have advocated water injection as an approach to replace or supplement existing knock mitigation techniques.

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalysts used in Lean NOx Trap (LNT) - SCR exhaust aftertreatment systems typically encounter alternating oxidizing and reducing environments. Reducing conditions occur when diesel fuel is injected upstream of a reformer catalyst, generating high concentrations of hydrogen (H₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbons to deNOx the LNT. In this study, the functionality of an iron (Fe) zeolite SCR catalyst is explored with a bench top reactor during steady-state and cyclic transient SCR operation. Experiments to characterize the effect of an LNT deNOx event on SCR operation show that adding H₂ or CO only slightly changes SCR behavior with the primary contribution being an enhancement of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) decomposition into nitric oxide (NO). Exposure of the catalyst to C₃H₆ (a surrogate for an actual exhaust HC mixture) leads to a significant decrease in NOx reduction capabilities of the catalyst.

There is a need for an efficient, durable technology to reduce NOx emissions from oxidative exhaust streams such as those produced by compression-ignition, direct-injection (CIDI) diesel or lean-burn gasoline engines. A partnership formed between the DOE Office of Advanced Automotive Technology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the USCAR Low Emission Technologies Research and Development Partnership is evaluating the effectiveness of a non-thermal plasma in conjunction with catalytic materials to mediate NOx and particulate emissions from diesel fueled light duty (CIDI) engines. Preliminary studies showed that plasma-catalyst systems could reduce up to 70% of NOx emissions at an equivalent cost of 3.5% of the input fuel in simulated diesel exhaust. These studies also showed that the type and concentration of hydrocarbon play a key role in both the plasma gas phase chemistry and the catalyst surface chemistry.

Previous work done at the University of Michigan shows the capability of the vacuum-insulated catalytic converter (VICC) to retain heat during soak and the resulting benefits in reducing cold start emissions. This paper provides an improved version of the design which overcomes some of the shortcomings of the previous model and further improves the applicability and benefits of VICC. Also, newer materials have been evaluated and their effects on heat retention and emissions have studied using the 1-D after treatment model. Cold start emissions constitute around 60% to 80% of all the hydrocarbon and CO emissions in present day vehicles. The time taken to achieve the catalyst light-off temperature in a three-way catalytic converter significantly affects the emissions and fuel efficiency. The current work aims at developing a method to retain heat in catalytic converter, thus avoiding the need for light-off and reducing cold start emissions effectively.

As European and Chinese tailpipe emission regulations for gasoline light-duty vehicles impose particulate number limits, automotive manufacturers have begun equipping some vehicles with a gasoline particulate filter (GPF). Increased understanding of how soot morphology, reactivity, and GPF loading affect GPF filtration and regeneration characteristics is necessary for advancing GPF performance. This study investigates the impacts of morphology, reactivity, and filter soot loading on GPF filtration and regeneration. Soot morphology and reactivity are varied through changes in fuel injection parameters, known to affect soot formation conditions. Changes in morphology and reactivity are confirmed through analysis using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) respectively.

Projected NOx and fuel costs are compared for a plasma-catalyst system and an active lean NOx catalyst system. Comparisons are based on modeling of FTP cycle performance. The model uses steady state laboratory device characteristics, combined with measured vehicle exhaust data to predict NOx conversion efficiency and fuel economy penalties. The plasma system uses a proprietary catalyst downstream of a plasma discharge. The active lean NOx catalyst uses a catalyst along with addition of hydrocarbons to the exhaust. For the plasma catalyst system, NOx conversion is available over a wide temperature range. Increased electrical power improves conversion but degrades vehicle fuel economy; 10 J/L energy deposition costs roughly 3% fuel economy. Improved efficiency is also available with larger catalyst size or increased exhaust hydrocarbon content. For the active lean NOx system, NOx conversion is available only in a narrow temperature range.