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New developments on the Northeastern University's Rotating Self-Cleaning particulate trap are reported herein. A new and improved system has been constructed with emphasis placed on minimizing leaks around rotating parts. Five different, wall flow, ceramic monolith filter elements were tested, a Corning, two NGK, a Panasonic and a Corning/Ceramem trap. The filters were rotated to enable simultaneous capture of the particulate emissions and regeneration by removing the particulates using compressed air. Improvements on the casing, the ducts, and the sealing around the monolith provided for an air-tight casing, and for almost complete isolation between the exhaust and the cleaning air streams. Moreover, experiments were conducted to minimize the flowrate of the required cleaning air.

A new design of a self-cleaning diesel particulate trap is discussed herein. Past research at Northeastern University has demonstrated the feasibility of using compressed air, counterflow to the exhaust, for regeneration of ceramic wall-flow particulate traps, thus, eliminating the need for thermal regeneration. The performance of these systems, however satisfactory it might have been, was hindered by potential reliability problems of mechanical components such as rotating monoliths and collection of soot in bag houses. Thus, the present work concentrated in designing a reliable and inexpensive system incorporating passive regeneration devices and a soot incinerator. Upon satisfactory completion of laboratory bench-scale tests, the system was mounted on a 1.4 liter diesel-powered vehicle and was field-tested for 2000 km. The core of the system is a high soot collection efficiency ceramic monolith.