Search Results

Fouling in EGR coolers occurs because of the presence of soot and condensable species (such as hydrocarbons) in the gas stream. Fouling leads to one of two possible outcomes: stabilization of effectiveness and plugging of the gas passages within the cooler. Deposit formation in the cooler under high-temperature conditions results in a fractal deposit that has a characteristic thermal conductivity of ∼0.033 W/m*K and a density of 0.0224 g/cm3. Effectiveness becomes much less sensitive to changes in thermal resistance as fouling proceeds, creating the appearance of “stabilization” even in the presence of ongoing, albeit slow, deposit growth. Plugging occurs when the deposit thermal resistance is several times lower because of the presence of large amounts of condensed species. The deposition mechanism in this case appears to be soot deposition into a liquid film, which results in increased packing efficiency and decreased void space in the deposit relative to high-temperature deposits.

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler fouling has become a significant issue for compliance with NOx emissions standards. Exhaust gas laden with particulate matter flows through the EGR cooler which causes deposits to form through thermophoresis and condensation. The low thermal conductivity of the resulting deposit reduces the effectiveness of the EGR system. In order to better understand this phenomenon, industry-provided coolers were characterized using neutron tomography. Neutrons are strongly attenuated by hydrogen but only weakly by metals which allows for non-destructive imaging of the deposit through the metal heat exchanger. Multiple 2-D projections of cooler sections were acquired by rotating the sample around the axis of symmetry with the spatial resolution of each image equal to ∼70 μm. A 3-D tomographic set was then reconstructed, from which slices through the cooler sections were extracted across different planes.