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Diesel vehicle applications are being tasked with increasingly stringent particulate emissions regulations. These regulations will require the use of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs). Prior to on-vehicle studies, DPF qualification studies are performed in laboratory bench reactors. In order to provide representative performance data, these studies require the testing of samples loaded with carbonaceous soot particles. A new soot generator, utilizing a pressure controlled propane flame, has been designed and built for this purpose. Soot production rates are on the order of approximately 8 mg/min at a concentration of 180 mg/m3. This allows 8 inch long cores to be loaded in 1 hour to soot concentrations encountered in typical vehicle operation. The soot generator allows for the selection of two distinct size distributions similar to typical diesel exhaust: a 57 nm peak and a 76 nm peak.

Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of accelerated aging on LNT-SCR system performance. The systems were aged and evaluated on an engine dynamometer using a DW12 2.2L I4 Diesel. The aging consisted of three modes, including sulfur exposure, desulfation (deSOx), and DPF regeneration conditions. Two systems were aged using different desulfation protocols and then evaluated over steady-state cycling conditions. The sulfur release characteristics were measured. Overall system gross NOx conversion was robust to the aging protocol; however, there were significant differences in the individual component performance depending on the nature of the aging conditions. LNT NOx conversion was significantly lower for the case where maximum temperatures reached only 730°C, as opposed to the more severe aging where temperatures reached 800°C.