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The removal of nitrogen oxides emitted by diesel and lean burn engines is one of the most important targets in catalytic exhaust aftertreatment research. Besides the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reaction with ammonia the most promising approach is the NOx Storage and Reduction Catalyst (NSR) which utilizes the nitrogen oxides storage on barium sites to form nitrates during the lean phase and their reduction to nitrogen in a rich atmosphere. In this paper, we present a modeling approach for the description of the transient behavior of a NSR. The model applies a two-dimensional description of the flow field in the single channels coupled with detailed models for the chemical processes. The mechanism used for modeling the oxidation and reduction of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides, respectively, is based on an elementary step reaction mechanism for platinum catalysts and a shrinking core model for the storage and reduction processes on the barium particles.

The effect of increased pressure relevant to pre-turbine catalyst positioning on catalytic oxidation of methane over a commercial Pd-Pt model catalyst under lean conditions is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The possible gas phase reactions due to high temperature and pressure were tested with an inert monolith. Catalyst activity tests were conducted for both wet and dry gas mixtures and the effect of pressure was investigated at 1, 2 and 4 bar. Aside from the water in the inlet stream, the water produced by oxidation of methane in dry feed inhibited the activity of the catalyst as well. Experiments were carried out to check the effect of added water in the concentration range of water produced by methane oxidation on the catalyst activity. Based on the experimental results, a global oxidation rate equation is proposed. The reaction rate expression is first order with respect to methane and -1.15 with respect to water.

The emission of formaldehyde and its removal has recently been brought into the focus of exhaust gas catalysis beside reduction off pollutants like hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. In this study, five commercial Pt-based catalysts were tested on their ability to oxidize formaldehyde under a variety of gas mixtures representing typical conditions of lean burn gas engines. In general, most of the formaldehyde could be removed almost as efficiently as carbon monoxide and much easier than saturated hydrocarbons. The catalysts were aged in different simulated exhaust gas mixtures including varying SO2 concentrations at 500 °C for 100 h to investigate a possible loss of activity due to thermal aging and poisoning. In a sulfur-free simulated exhaust gas very high conversion with no detectable loss of activity due to the aging was observed. Also small amounts of SO2 (1.75 ppm) had only minor effects on formaldehyde conversion.

This combined numerical simulation and experimental study focuses on the effect of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in strong diluted oxygen-rich NOx/NH3/O2/H2O gas mixtures representative at exhaust gas aftertreatment in diesel engines. Conversion of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3) and the change of the NO/NO2 and NH3/NOx ratios were analyzed by means of comparison between experimental measurements and kinetic simulations. Homogeneous gas-phase experiments have been carried out in a special countercurrent continuous flow reactor at intermediate temperature (473-923 K) and elevated pressure up to 5 bar. In the simulation with an ideal plug-flow model, the occurring reactions in the gas mixture were calculated. To explain the observations, a reactions flow analysis was also performed. The experimental and modeling results revealed that despite a high NH3 conversion, the NOx concentration stays nearly constant in the presence of NO2.

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) based on urea-water-solution is an effective technique to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from diesel engines. A 3D numerical computer model of the injection of urea-water-solution and their interaction with the exhaust gas flow and exhaust tubing is developed to evaluate different configurations during the development process of such a DeNOx-system. The model accounts for all relevant processes appearing from the injection point to the entrance of the SCR-catalyst: momentum interaction between gas phase and droplets evaporation and thermolysis of droplets hydrolysis of isocyanic acid in gas phase heat transfer between wall and droplets spray/wall-interaction two-component wall film including interaction with gas phase and exhaust tube The single modeling steps are verified with visualizations, patternator measurements, phase-doppler-anemometer results and temperature measurements.

The ultimate goal in the numerical simulation of automotive catalytic converters is the prediction of exhaust gas emissions as function of time for varying inlet conditions, i.e. the simulation of a driving cycle. Such a simulation must include the calculation of the transient three-dimensional temperature-field of the monolithic solid structure of the converter, which results from a complex interaction between a variety of physical and chemical processes such as the gaseous flow field through the monolith channels, the catalytic reactions, gaseous and solid heat transport, and heat transfer to the ambience. This paper will discuss the application of the newly developed CFD-code DETCHEMMONOLITH for the numerical simulation of the transient behavior of three-way catalytic converters that have a monolithic structure.

Hydrogen (H2) is commonly considered as one of the most promising carbon-free energy carriers allowing for a decarbonization of combustion applications, for instance by retrofitting of conventional diesel internal combustion engines (ICEs). Although modern H2-ICEs emit only comparably low levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), efficient catalytic converters are mandatory for exhaust gas after-treatment in order to establish near-zero emission applications. In this context, the present study evaluates the performance of a commercial state-of-the-art oxidation catalyst (OC) and of a catalyst for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) that are typically used for emission reduction from diesel exhausts under conditions representative for H2-fueled ICEs, namely oxygen-rich exhausts with high water vapor levels, comparably low temperatures, and potentially considerable levels of unburnt H2.