Search Results

Ammonia/urea-SCR is a mature technology, applied worldwide for the control of NOx emissions in combustion exhausts from thermal power plants, cogeneration units, incinerators and stationary diesel engines and more recently also from mobile sources. However a greater DeNOx activity at low temperatures is desired in order to meet more and more restrictive legislations. In this paper we report transient and steady state data collected over commercial Fe-ZSM-5 and V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ catalysts showing high NOx reduction efficiencies in the 200 - 350°C T-range when NO and ammonia react with nitrates, e.g., in the form of an aqueous solution of ammonium nitrate. Under such conditions a new reaction occurs, the so-called "Enhanced SCR" reaction, 2 NH₃ + 2 NO + NH₄NO₃ → 3 N₂ + 5 H₂O.

The selective catalytic reduction has seen widespread adoption as the best technology to reduce the NOx emissions from internal combustion engines, particularly for Diesels. This technology uses ammonia as a reducing agent, which is obtained injecting an ammonia carrier into the exhaust gas stream. The dosing of the ammonia carrier, usually AdBlue, is the major concern during the design and engine calibration phases, since the interaction between the injected liquid and the components of the exhaust system can lead to the undesired formation of solid deposits. To avoid this, the thermal and kinematic interaction between the spray and the components of the after treatment system (ATS) must be modeled accurately. In this work, the authors developed a Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) framework to model the kinetic and thermal interaction among the spray, the eventual liquid layer and the pipe walls.

In recent years, the increase of gasoline fuel injection pressure is a way to improve thermal efficiency and lower engine-out emissions in GDI homogenous combustion concept. The challenge of controlling particulate formation as well in mass and number concentrations imposed by emissions regulations can be pursued improving the mixture preparation process and avoiding mixture inhomogeneity with ultra-high injection pressure values up to 100 MPa. The increase of the fuel injection pressure in GDI homogeneous systems meets the demand for increased injector static flow, while simultaneously improves the spray atomization and mixing characteristics with consequent better combustion performance. Few studies quantify the effects of high injection pressure on transient gasoline spray evolution. The aim of this work was to simulate with OpenFOAM the spray morphology of a commercial gasoline injected in a constant volume vessel by a prototypal GDI injector.

The injection process of urea-water solution (AdBlue) determines initial conditions for reactions and catalysis and is fundamentally responsible for optimal operation of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems. The spray characteristics of four, commercially available, injectors (one air-assisted and three pressure-driven with different nozzle-hole configurations) are investigated with non-intrusive measuring techniques. Injection occurred in the crossflow of a channel blowing preheated air in an exhaust duct similar configuration. The effect of several gas temperatures and flows on the spray propagation and entrainment has been extensively studied by shadow imaging. Shadow images, in addition, show that the spray of the pressure-driven injectors is only marginally affected by the gas crossflow. In contrast, the air assisted spray is strongly deflected by the gas, the effect increasing with increasing gas flow.

An aqueous urea solution is used as the source of ammonia for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx to reduce the emissions of NOx in the exhaust of diesel vehicles. However, the decomposition of urea into ammonia is not always complete, resulting in solid urea deposit formation in the decomposition tube or on the SCR catalyst. These solid deposits can impede the flow of the exhaust gases (and uniformity of NH3 supply) and reduce SCR catalyst performance over time. To minimize the formation of urea deposit and to meet EPA NOx emission regulations, it is important to understand the chemistry of formation or removal of the deposit in the decomposition tube and SCR catalyst. In this report, IR spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and elemental analysis have been used to determine the chemical composition of the solid urea deposits formed by the thermal decomposition of urea.

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems are nowadays widely applied for the reduction of NOx emitted from Diesel engines. The typical process is based on the injection of aqueous urea in the exhaust gases before the SCR catalyst, which determines the production of the ammonia needed for the catalytic reduction of NOx. However, this technology is affected by two main limitations: a) the evaporation of the urea water solution (UWS) requires a sufficiently high temperature of the exhaust gases and b) the formation of solid deposits during the UWS evaporation is a frequent phenomenon which compromise the correct operation of the system. In this context, to overcome these issues, a technology based on the injection of gaseous ammonia has been recently proposed: in this case, ammonia is stored at the solid state in a cartridge containing a Strontium Chloride salt and it is desorbed by means of electrical heating.

In this paper, a model-based linear estimator and a non-linear control law for an Fe-zeolite urea-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst for heavy duty diesel engine applications is presented. The novel aspect of this work is that the relevant species, NO, NO2 and NH3 are estimated and controlled independently. The ability to target NH3 slip is important not only to minimize urea consumption, but also to reduce this unregulated emission. Being able to discriminate between NO and NO2 is important for two reasons. First, recent Fe-zeolite catalyst studies suggest that NOx reduction is highly favored by the NO 2 based reactions. Second, NO2 is more toxic than NO to both the environment and human health. The estimator and control law are based on a 4-state model of the urea-SCR plant. A linearized version of the model is used for state estimation while the full nonlinear model is used for control design.

Transient and steady-state kinetic data are herein presented to analyze the inhibiting effect of ammonia on the NH₃-SCR of NO at low temperatures over a Fe-zeolite commercial catalyst for vehicles. It is shown that in SCR converter models a rate expression accounting for NH₃ inhibition of the Standard SCR reaction is needed in order to predict the specific dynamics observed both in lab-scale and in engine test bench runs upon switching on and off the ammonia feed. Two redox, dual site kinetic models are developed which ascribe such inhibition to the spill-over of ammonia from its adsorption sites, associated with the zeolite, to the redox sites, associated with the Fe promoter. Better agreement both with lab-scale intrinsic kinetic runs and with engine test-bench data, particularly during transients associated with dosing of ammonia to the SCR catalyst, is obtained assuming slow migration of NH₃ between the two sites.

The capability to detect combustion in a diesel engine has the potential of being an important control feature to meet increasingly stringent emission regulations and for the development of alternative combustion strategies such as HCCI and PCCI. In this work, block mounted accelerometers are investigated as potential feedback sensors for detecting combustion characteristics in a high-speed, high pressure common rail (HPCR), 1.9L diesel engine. Accelerometers are positioned in multiple placements and orientations on the engine, and engine testing is conducted under motored, single and pilot-main injection conditions. Engine tests are then conducted at varying injection timings to observe the resulting time and frequency domain changes of both the pressure and acceleration signals.

Model-based control strategies are important for meeting the dual objective of maximizing NOx reduction and minimizing NH3 slip in urea-SCR catalysts. To be implementable on the vehicle, the models should capture the essential behavior of the system, while not being computationally intensive. This paper discusses the adequacy of two different reduced order SCR catalyst models and compares their performance with a higher order model. The higher order model assumes that the catalyst has both diffusion and reaction kinetics, whereas the reduced order models contain only reaction kinetics. After describing each model, its parameter identification and model validation based on experiments on a Navistar I6 7.6L engine are presented. The adequacy of reduced order models is demonstrated by comparing the NO, NO2 and NH3 concentrations predicted by the models to their concentrations from the test data.

Optimal fuel injection strategies are obtained with a micro-genetic algorithm and an adaptive gradient method for a nonroad, medium-speed DI diesel engine equipped with a multi-orifice, asynchronous fuel injection system. The gradient optimization utilizes a fast-converging backtracking algorithm and an adaptive cost function which is based on the penalty method, where the penalty coefficient is increased after every line search. The micro-genetic algorithm uses parameter combinations of the best two individuals in each generation until a local convergence is achieved, and then generates a random population to continue the global search. The optimizations have been performed for a two pulse fuel injection strategy where the optimization parameters are the injection timings and the nozzle orifice diameters.

In order to comply with 2002 EPA emissions regulations, cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) will be used by heavy duty (HD) diesel engine manufacturers as the primary means to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). A feedforward controlled EGR cooling system with a secondary electric water pump and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedback has been designed to cool the recirculated exhaust gas in order to better realize the benefits of EGR without overcooling the exhaust gas since overcooling leads to the fouling of the EGR cooler with acidic residues. A system without a variable controlled coolant flow rate is not able to achieve these goals because the exhaust temperature and the EGR schedule vary significantly, especially under transient and warm-up operating conditions. Simulation results presented in this paper have been determined using the Vehicle Engine Cooling System Simulation (VECSS) software, which has been developed and validated using actual engine data.

Experimental studies have shown that knitted wiremesh mixers reduce the formation of solid deposits and improve ammonia homogenization in automotive SCR systems. However, their implementation in CFD models remains a major challenge due to the complex WM geometry. It was the aim of the current study to investigate droplet WM interaction. Essential processes, such as secondary droplet generation, wall film formation, and heat exchange, were analyzed in detail and a numerical model was set up. A box with heat resisting glass was used to study urea-water solution spray impingement on a WM under a wide range of operating conditions. High speed videography was used to identify the impingement regimes. Infrared thermography was applied to investigate WM cooling. In order to determine the impact of the WM on the spray characteristics, the droplet spectrum was measured both upstream and downstream of the WM using the laser diffraction method.

The application of liquid aqueous Urea Solution (AUS) as reductant in SCR exhaust after-treatment systems is now a commonly accepted industry standard. Unfortunately, less acceptable are the associated difficulties caused by incomplete decomposition of the liquid, resulting in solid deposits which accumulate in the exhaust pipe downstream of the dosing components. The correct prediction of the spray pattern and, therefore, the spray impact on the walls is a key feature for the system optimization. A mechanical patternator, designed on the basis of CFD performance assessment, involving a Lagrangian representation of the dispersed liquid fully coupled with a 3D Eulerian description of the carrier phase, has been built and used to measure the spray mass distribution.

The characteristics of gasoline sprayed directly into combustion chambers are of critical importance to engine out emissions and combustion system development. The optimization of the spray characteristics to match the in-cylinder flow field, chamber geometry, and spark location is a vital tasks during the development of an engine combustion strategy. Furthermore, the presence of liquid fuel during combustion in Spark-Ignition (SI) engines causes increased hydro-carbon (HC) emissions. Euro 6, LEVIII, and US Tier 3 emissions regulations reduce the allowable particulate mass significantly from the previous standards. LEVIII standards reduce the acceptable particulate emission to 1 mg/mile. A good DISI strategy vaporizes the correct amount of fuel just in time for optimal power output with minimal emissions. The opening and closing phases of DISI injectors are crucial to this task as the spray produces larger droplets during both theses phases.

Direct-injection represents a consolidated technology to increase performance and efficiency in spark-ignition engines. It reduces the knock tendency and makes engine downsizing possible through the use of turbocharging. Better control of CO and HC emissions at cold-start is also ensured since there is no wall-impingement in the intake port. However, to take advantages of all the theoretical benefits derived from GDI technology, detailed investigations of both fuel-air mixing and combustion processes are necessary to extend the stratified charge operations in the engine map and to reduce soot emissions, that are now severely regulated by emission standards. In this work, the authors developed a CFD methodology to investigate and optimize the fuel-air mixing process in direct-injection, spark-ignition engines. The Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is used to model the evolution of the fuel spray emerging from a multi-hole injector.

The passive oxidation of particulate matter (PM) in a diesel catalyzed particulate filter (CPF) was investigated in a series of experiments performed on two engines. A total of ten tests were completed on a 2002 Cummins 246 kW (330 hp) ISM and a 2007 Cummins 272 kW (365 hp) ISL. Five tests were performed on each engine to determine if using engine technologies certified to different emissions regulations has an impact on the passive oxidation characteristics of the PM. A new experimental procedure for passive oxidation testing was developed and implemented for the experiments. In order to investigate the parameters of interest, the engines were initially operated at a steady state loading condition where the PM concentrations, flow rates, and temperatures were such that the accumulation of PM within the CPF was obtained in a controlled manner. This engine operating condition was maintained until a CPF PM loading of 2.2 ±0.2 g/L was obtained.

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler fouling has become a significant issue for compliance with NOX emissions standards and has negative impacts on cooler sizing and engine performance. In order to improve our knowledge of cooler fouling as a function of engine operating parameters and to predict and enhance performance, 19 tube-in-shell EGR coolers were fouled using a 5-factor, 3-level design of experiments with the following variables: (1) EGR flow rate, (2) EGR inlet gas temperature, (3) coolant temperature, (4) soot level, and (5) hydrocarbon concentration. A 9-liter engine and ULSD fuel were used to form the cooler deposits. Coolers were run until the effectiveness stabilized, and then were cooled down to room temperature and run for an additional few hours in order to measure the change in effectiveness due to shut down. The coolers were cut open and the mass per unit area of the deposit was measured as a function of distance down the tube.

In order to further characterize and optimize the performance of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) aftertreatment systems used on heavy-duty diesel engines, an accurately calibrated high-fidelity multi-step global kinetic SCR model and a reduced order estimator for on-board diagnostic (OBD) and control are desirable. In this study, a Cu-zeolite SCR catalyst from a 2010 Cummins ISB engine was experimentally studied in a flow reactor using carefully designed protocols. A 2-site SCR model describing mass transfer and the SCR chemical reaction mechanisms is described in the paper. The model was calibrated to the reactor test data sets collected under temperatures from 200 to 425 °C and SCR space velocities of 60000, 90000, and 120000 hr-1. The model parameters were calibrated using an optimization code to minimize the error between measured and simulated NO, NO₂, N₂O, and NH₃ gas concentration time histories.

Recently, outboard engine technology has advanced significantly. With these new technologies comes a substantial improvement in emissions compared to traditional carbureted two-stroke engines. Some two-stroke gasoline direct injection (GDI) marine outboard engines are now capable of meeting California Air Resources Board 2008 Ultra-Low emissions standards. With improvement of gaseous emissions, studies are now being conducted to assess particulate matter (PM) emissions from all new technology marine outboard engines which include both four-stroke and two-stroke designs. Methods are currently being developed to determine the best way to measure PM from outboard engines. This study assesses gaseous and PM emissions, mutagenic activity of PM and oil consumption of two different technologies over the useful life of the engines.