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A numerical model for a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) is presented. It is based on a spatially 1D, physical and chemically based modeling of the relevant processes within the catalytic monolith. A global reaction kinetic approach has been chosen to describe the chemical reactions. Water condensation and evaporation was also considered, in order to predict the cold start behavior. Reaction kinetic parameters have been evaluated from a series of laboratory experiments. A correlation between the kinetic parameters and the noble metal loading was developed. The model was used in combination with a SCR-Model to study the influence of changes of noble metal loading and DOC volume on the overall transient NOx performance of a DOC+DPF+SCR system.

Catalyzed wall-flow particulate filters are increasingly applied in diesel exhaust after-treatment for multiple purposes, including low-temperature catalytic regeneration, CO and hydrocarbon conversion, as well as exothermic heat generation during forced regeneration. In order to optimize Precious Metals usage, it may be advantageous to apply the catalytic coating non-uniformly in the DPF, a technology referred to as “catalyst zoning”. In order to simulate the behavior of such a filter, one has to consider coupled transport-reaction modeling. In this work, a previously developed model is calibrated versus experimental data obtained with full-scale catalyzed filters on the engine dynamometer. In a next step, the model is validated under a variety of operating conditions using engine experiments with zoned filters. The performance of the zoned catalyst is analyzed by examining the transient temperature and species profiles in the inlet and outlet channels.

This paper focuses on some of the DPF system design issues where 3-dimensional modeling is necessary. The study is based on an existing 3-dimensional DPF model (axitrap) which is coupled to a commercial CFD code (Star-CD, CD-Adapco). The main focus is the effect of the inlet pipe geometry on soot distribution in the filter during loading and regeneration mode. The results show that due to the self-balancing effect, the resulting soot distribution in the filter under typical loading modes with low flow rates is quite uniform. With the assumption of adiabatic inlet pipe, the effect of non-symmetric inlet pipe is also negligible even during regeneration. However, under the realistic assumption of a non-adiabatic inlet pipe, the effect of inlet pipe geometry becomes very significant. Especially, for the case of a bent-shaped inlet pipe, the risk of impartial regeneration of the filter increases significantly.