Nick Molzahn

CBE 555
What is an Aftertreatment System?
 A system that treats post-combustion exhaust gases
prior to tailpipe emission
 Differs from emission reduction techniques in the
combustion process
 Allows for greater power from the engine without
worrying about emissions increasing
Why Diesel?
 Higher energy density per unit volume of fuel than
gasoline
 147,000 BTU in diesel versus 125,000 BTU in gasoline

 Fuel economies of up to 45 MPG

 Higher torque for similar sized engines
 Greater compression ratios than gasoline

 Exhaust pollution can be mitigated by modern

technologies
 Solution for decreasing Western gasoline demands
 Including passenger cars
Regulation Background
 Clean Air Act of 1963: First government look into stationary emissions
 Clean Air Act 1970: Regulation of 6 criteria pollutants
 CO, SOx, NOx, Hydrocarbons, Ozone, & Particulate Matter

 Clean Air Act of 1990: Acid rain control plus 189 secondary pollutants
 Since then, numerous periodic reductions
 Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) mandatory 2007
Aftertreatment System Overview
EGR – Exhaust Gas Recirculation
DOC – Diesel Oxidation Catalyst
DPF – Diesel Particulate Filter
DRT – Decomposition Reaction Tube
SCR – Selective Catalytic Reduction
DEF – Diesel Exhaust Fluid (Urea)
Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR)
 A portion of exhaust stream gets recycled back into the combustion
chambers
 Low oxygen makes this function as an inert gas
 Reduces engine operating temperatures to decrease NOx formation

At high temperatures: O2+N2  NO + NO2

Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC)
 Platinum group metals catalyze the complete oxidation of unburnt
hydrocarbons to CO2
 Reactions heat exhaust gases up to temperatures in excess of 450˚C
 Catalyst material coats flow channel matrix
 Channels are a ceramic honeycomb

 Very efficient catalysis (Upwards of 90% conversion to oxidized products)

Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF)
 Alternating plugged channels force exhaust to flow through cordierite
walls, which traps the soot
 Soot is a complex linked carbon structure which is a combustion byproduct

 Soot reduction can approach 100% efficiency with full DPF’s

Characteristic
Wall-flow DPF Cell Soot Structure
Diesel Particulate Filter (DPFs) Cont.
 Trapped soot is periodically burnt off through a regeneration event
 Active Regeneration:
 Fuel is injected into the Aftertreatment system, combusts in the DOC, and this
800˚ exhaust is able to fully oxidize the soot
 Passive Regeneration:
 NO2 + C (s)  CO2 + NO
 Catalyzed filter elements allow for exhaust NO2 to oxidize soot
 Requires hot temperatures such as highway driving to function
Decomposition Reactor Tube (DRT)
 Urea is injected after the DPF onto a special mixing plate
 Hot exhaust gas breaks urea into ammonia
 Side reactions sometimes form solid deposits of aromatic cyclic rings
 These deposits can block exhaust flow
Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
 Function is to use NH3 to reduce NOx to diatomic Nitrogen
 Base metals (vanadium, tungsten):
 Lack thermal durability, cheap, SO3 is produced

 Zeolites:
 High thermal durability, expensive, lower SO3 conversion
 Can approach 99% reduction in NOx emission

 Newest technology – only necessary in developed markets (US and

Europe)
Worldwide Implementation
 Mature Emission Regulation
 US EPA, California Air Resources Board (CARB), European
Standards (Euro), Japanese Standards (JMOE)
 Emerging Emission Regulation
 Chinese Standard, India Bharat Stage Standard, Brazil
CONAMA, Korean KMOE
 Must engineer solutions specific
to the region
Additional Retrofit Solutions
 Only new engines are required to pass emission standards
 Diesel engines are very reliable – fleet turnover time is many years
 Retrofitting technologies can help to modernize diesel engines at little
cost to trucking companies
Drawbacks of Aftertreatment Systems
 Requires more pressure to force exhaust through the filtering
mechanisms
 Turbochargers are not able to use as much of this available backpressure to increase
engine efficiency

 Biodiesel cannot be used with current active regeneration DPF

technology
 Passive regeneration systems require highway driving to clean
accumulated soot
 Urea injection requires additional tanks, piping, and refueling stations to
operate
 Entire refueling infrastructure must be put in place
Summary
 Diesel exhaust gas can be cleaned through the use of catalyst and
filtration technologies
 Use of diesel engines allows for greater fuel diversity in the
transportation sector
 Technology is mature and ready
 Combine efficiency and power of diesel with low emissions of gasoline
 The dirty image that diesel has is a thing of the past
References
US EPA
California Air Research Board (CARB)
Cummins Emission Solutions
Clean Air Task Force
Dieselnet.com
Volkswagen TDI-Institute
Thank you!