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This paper describes the joint development by Tenneco and Pi Shurlok of a complete diesel engine aftertreatment system for controlling particulate matter emissions. The system consists of a DOC, DPF, sensors, controller and an exhaust fuel injection system to allow active DPF regeneration. The mechanical components were designed for flow uniformity, low backpressure and component durability. The overall package is intended as a complete PM control system solution for OEMs, which does not require any significant additions to the OEM's engine control strategies and minimizes integration complexity. Thus, to make it easier to adapt to different engine platforms, ranging from small off-road vehicle engines to large locomotive engines, model-based control algorithms were developed in preference to map-based controls.

Evolving marine diesel emission regulations drive significant reductions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. There is, therefore, considerable interest to develop and validate Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) converters for marine diesel NOx emission control. Substrates in marine applications need to be robust to survive the high sulfur content of marine fuels and must offer cost and pressure drop benefits. In principle, extruded honeycomb substrates of higher cell density offer benefits on system volume and provide increased catalyst area (in direct trade-off with increased pressure drop). However higher cell densities may become more easily plugged by deposition of soot and/or sulfate particulates, on the inlet face of the monolithic converter, as well as on the channel walls and catalyst coating, eventually leading to unacceptable flow restriction or suppression of catalytic function.

Exhaust systems traditionally require a specific amount of muffler volume to reduce sound levels appropriately. However, as hybridization evolves, the packaging area becomes smaller, reducing available muffler space and requiring alternative solutions to attenuate exhaust sound with less volume. Passive exhaust valves are a key solution, leveraging the physics of the exhaust (flow, temperature, and pressure) to cycle the valve. Passive exhaust valves typically operate in a closed position under low-flow conditions (low engine speeds and loads), which helps to reduce low-frequency boom, moderately increasing backpressure when it is not detrimental to engine efficiency. Conversely, under higher engine speed and load operating conditions, when exhaust flow increases and backpressure is critical to achieve desired power output, the passive valve opens to reduce its impact.

Current progress in the development of diesel engines substantially contributes to the reduction of NOx and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions but will not succeed to eliminate the application of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) in the future. In the past we have introduced a Multi-Functional Reactor (MFR) prototype, suitable for the abatement of the gaseous and PM emissions of the Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) engine operation. In this work the performance of MFR prototypes under both conventional and advanced combustion engine operating conditions is presented. The effect of the MFR on the fuel penalty associated to the filter regeneration is assessed via simulation. Special focus is placed on presenting the performance assessment in combination with the existing differences in the morphology and reactivity of the soot particles between the different modes of diesel engine operation (conventional and advanced). The effect of aging on the MFR performance is also presented.

EPA 2015 Tier IV emission requirements pose significant challenges to large diesel engine aftertreatment system (EAS) development aimed at reducing exhaust emissions such as NOx and PM. An EAS has three primary subsystems, Aftertreatment hardware, controls and fluid delivery. Fluid delivery is the subsystem which supplies urea into exhaust stream to allow SCR catalytic reaction and/or periodic DOC diesel dosing to elevate exhaust temperatures for diesel particulate filter (DPF) soot regeneration. The purpose of this paper is to discuss various aspects of fluid delivery system development from flow and pressure perspective. It starts by giving an overview of the system requirements and outlining theoretical background; then discusses overall design considerations, injector and pump selection criteria, and three main injector layouts. Steady state system performance was studied for manifold layout.

In this paper, a methodology is presented to study the influence of thermal aging on catalytic DPF performance using small scale coated filter samples and side-stream reactor technology. Different mixed oxide catalytic coating families are examined under realistic engine exhaust conditions and under fresh and thermally aged state. This methodology involves the determination of filter physical (flow resistance under clean and soot loaded conditions and filtration efficiency) and chemical properties (reactivity of catalytic coating towards direct soot oxidation). Thermal aging led to sintering of catalytic nanoparticles and to changes in the structure of the catalytic layer affecting negatively the filter wall permeability, the clean filtration efficiency and the pressure drop behavior during soot loading. It also affected negatively the catalytic soot oxidation activity of the catalyzed samples.

As Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) NOx abatement systems gain commercial acceptance and popularity, the need for efficiency predictive capabilities increases. To this end, a flow bench was developed capable of varying steady state inputs (temperature, flow rate and NOx concentration). The efficiencies of various SCR systems was measured and compared. This concept of a steady state flow bench approach allows for an efficient and cost effective means to evaluate comparable system designs.

Trends towards lower vehicle fuel consumption and smaller environmental impact will increase the share of Diesel hybrids and Diesel Range Extended Vehicles (REV). Because of the Diesel engine presence and the ever tightening soot particle emissions, these vehicles will still require soot particle emissions control systems. Ceramic wall-flow monoliths are currently the key players in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) market, offering certain advantages compared to other DPF technologies such as the metal based DPFs. The latter had, in the past, issues with respect to filtration efficiency, available filtration area and, sometimes, their manufacturing cost, the latter factor making them less attractive for most of the conventional Diesel engine powered vehicles. Nevertheless, metal substrate DPFs may find a better position in vehicles like Diesel hybrids and REVs in which high instant power consumption is readily offered enabling electrical filter regeneration.

As different Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) designs and media are becoming widely adopted, research efforts in the characterization of their influence on particle emissions intensify. In the present work the influence of a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) and five different Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) under steady state and transient engine operating conditions on the particulate and gaseous emissions of a common-rail diesel engine are studied. An array of particle measuring instrumentation is employed, in which all instruments simultaneously measure from the engine exhaust. Each instrument measures a different characteristic/metric of the diesel particles (mobility size distribution, aerodynamic size distribution, total number, total surface, active surface, etc.) and their combination assists in building a complete characterization of the particle emissions at various measurement locations: engine-out, DOC-out and DPF-out.

Although engine emissions per vehicle have been reduced for twenty years with technical developments in the fields of engine, after-treatment technologies and fuels the urban air pollution problem still exists in many cities around the world. Forthcoming emission regulations will require further development of new complex technologies to reach low emissions. On-board driving assessment of such technologies offers significant advantages in the development phase of novel emission reduction. In this paper we present the design, development and commissioning of a mobile laboratory able to monitor on-board along the exhaust line gaseous and particulate pollutants as well as measure these pollutants in the ambient environment around the vehicle.

Future diesel emission control systems have to effectively operate under non-conventional low-temperature combustion engine operating conditions. In this work the research and development efforts for the realization of a Multi-Functional catalyst Reactor (MFR) for the exhaust of the upcoming diesel engines is presented. This work is based on recent advances in catalytic nano-structured materials synthesis and coating techniques. Different catalytic functionalities have been carefully distributed in the filter substrate microstructure for maximizing the direct and indirect (NO2-assisted) soot oxidation rate, the HC and CO conversion efficiency as well as the filtration efficiency. Moreover, a novel filter design has been applied to enable internal heat recovery capability by the implementation of heat exchange between the outlet and the inlet to the filter flow paths.

Establishing a certain maintenance-free time period regarding modern diesel exhaust emission control systems is of major importance nowadays. One of the most serious problems Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) manufacturers face concerning system's durability is the performance deterioration due to the filter aging because of the accumulation of the ash particles. The evaluation of the effect of the ash aging on the filter performance is a time and cost consuming task that slows down the process of manufacturing innovative filter structures and designs. In this work we present a methodology for producing filter samples aged by accumulating ash produced by the controlled pyrolysis of oil-fuel solutions. Such ash particles bear morphological (size) and compositional similarity to ash particles collected from engine aged DPFs. The ash particles obtained are compared to those from real engine operation.

Diesel burners introduce combustion of diesel fuel to raise exhaust gas temperature to Diesel Oxidization Catalyst (DOC) light-off or Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) regeneration conditions, thereby eliminating the need of engine measures such as post-injections. Such diesel combustion requirement nevertheless poses challenges to burner development especially in combustion control and risk mitigation of DPF material failure. In particular, burner design must satisfy good soot distribution and heat distribution at DPF front face after meeting minimum requirements of ignition, heat release, and backpressure. In burner development, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models have been developed based on commercial codes for burner thermal and flow management with capability of predicting comprehensive physical and chemical phenomena including turbulence induced mixing, fuel injection, fuel droplet transport, diesel combustion, radiation, conjugate heat transfer and etc.

2010 and future EPA regulations introduce stringent Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) reduction targets for diesel engines. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of NOx by Urea over catalyst has become one of the main solutions to achieve these aggressive reductions. As such, urea solution is injected into the exhaust gas, evaporated and decomposed to ammonia via mixing with the hot exhaust gas before passing through an SCR catalyst. Urea mixers, in this regard, are crucial to ensure successful evaporation and mixing since its liquid state poses significant barriers, especially at low temperature conditions that incur undesired deposits. Intensive efforts have been taken toward developing such urea mixers, and multiple criteria have been derived for them, mainly including NOx reduction efficiency and uniformity. In addition, mixers must also satisfy other requirements such as low pressure drop penalty, mechanical strength, material integrity, low cost, and manufacturability.

An active diesel particulate filter (DPF) regeneration system is evaluated, which applies secondary fuel injection (SFI) directly within the exhaust system upstream of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC). Diesel fuel is oxidized in the presence of a proprietary catalyst system, increasing exhaust gas temperatures in an efficient and controlled manner, even during low engine-out gas temperatures. The exotherms produced by secondary fuel injection (SFI) have been evaluated using two different DOC volumes and platinum catalyst loadings. DOC light-off temperatures were measured using SFI under steady-state conditions on an engine dynamometer. A ΔT method was used for the light-off temperature measurements – i.e., the minimum DOC inlet gas temperature at which the exothermic reaction increases the outlet gas temperature 20°C or greater than the inlet temperature.

Diesel burners recently have been used in Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) regeneration process, in which the exhaust gas temperature is raised through the combustion process to burn off the soot particles. The feasibility of such process using the burner in large diesel applications is investigated along with a mixer and DPF. For such applications, only partial flow of the exhaust stream is fed into the burner and the resulting hot flow from combustion process is then mixed with the rest of the main stream. The amount of flow into the burner plays a vital role in overall system performance as it determines the amount of hot gas needed for Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) light-off (to facilitate DPF regeneration) and also oxygen amount needed for secondary combustion. A passive valve plate design is proposed for such flow split applications for the burner.

In order to satisfy tightening global emissions regulations, diesel truck manufacturers are striving to meet increasingly stringent Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) reduction standards. The majority of heavy duty diesel trucks have integrated urea SCR NOx abatement strategies. To this end, aftertreatment systems need to be properly engineered to achieve high conversion efficiencies. A EuroV intent urea SCR system is evaluated and failed to meet NOx conversion targets with severe urea deposit formation. Systematic enhancements of the design have been performed to enable it to meet targets, including emission reduction efficiency via improved reagent mixing, evaporation, distribution, back pressure, and removing of urea deposits. Multiple urea mixers, injector mounting positions and various system layouts are developed and evaluated, including both CFD analysis and full scale laboratory tests.

With increasing applications of urea SCR for NOx emission reduction, improving the system performance and durability has become a high priority. A typical urea SCR system includes a urea injector, injector housing, mixer, and appropriate pipe configurations to allow continuous urea injection into the exhaust stream and evaporation of urea solution into gaseous products. Continuous operation at various conditions with high NOx reduction is possible, but one problem that threatens the life and performance of these systems is urea deposit. When urea or its byproducts become deposited on the inner surfaces of the system including walls, mixers, injector housings and substrates it can create concerns of backpressure and material deteriorations. In addition, deposits as a waste of reagents can negatively affect engine operation, emissions performance and DEF economy. Urea deposit behavior is explored in terms of heat transfer, pipe geometry, injector layout and mixing mechanisms.

The presented work evaluates several mixer designs being considered for use in large Diesel exhaust aftertreatment systems. The mixers are placed upstream of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) in the exhaust system, where a liquid hydrocarbon fuel is injected. DOC exothermic behaviour resulting from each mixer at different operating conditions is evaluated. A gas flow bench equipped with a XY-Table measurement system is used to determine gas velocity, temperature, and hydrocarbon species uniformity, as well as, pressure drop. Experimental mixer data obtained from a flow bench and an engine dynamometer are compared and discussed. The experimental methodology used in this study can be used to evaluate mixers via comprehensive testing.

Diesel particulate trap regeneration is a complex process involving the interaction of phenomena at several scales. A hierarchy of models for the relevant physicochemical processes at the different scales of the problem (porous wall, filter channel, entire trap) is employed to obtain a rigorous description of the process in a multidimensional context. The final model structure is validated against experiments, resulting in a powerful tool for the computer-aided study of the regeneration behavior. In the present work we employ this tool to address the effect of various spatial non-uniformities on the regeneration characteristics of diesel particulate traps. Non-uniformities may include radial variations of flow, temperature and particulate concentration at the filter inlet, as well as variations of particulate loading. In addition, we study the influence of the distribution of catalytic activity along the filter wall.