Applications and benefits of catalytic converter thermal management

Abstract

A catalytic converter thermal management system (TMS) using variable-conductance vacuum insulation and phase-change thermal storage can maintain the converter temperature above its operating temperature for many hours, allowing most trips to begin with minimal "cold-start" emissions. The latest converter TMS prototype was tested on a Ford Taurus (3.0 liter flex-fuel engine) at Southwest Research Institute. Following a 24-hour soak, the FTP-75 emissions were 0.031, 0.13, and 0.066 g/mile for NMHC, CO, and NO X , respectively. Tests were also run using 85% ethanol (E85), resulting in values of 0.005, 0.124, and 0.044 g/mile, and 0.005 g/mile NMOG. Compared to the baseline FTP levels, these values represent reductions of 84% to 96% for NMHC, NMOG, and CO. BACKGROUND

A Study of Thermal Energy Storage of Phase Change Materials: Thermophysical Properties and Numerical Simulations

“…Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are also widely used for thermal management of catalytic converters (Burch et al [1996]; Burch et al [1995]), internal combustion engines (Kim et al [2010]), and engine cooling systems in automotive industry (Burch et al [1995]). Kim et al [2010] proposed a new cooling method using a PCM in an automotive engine.…”

The Necessity of Optimizing the Interactions of Advanced Post-Treatment Components in Order to Obtain Compliance with SULEV-Legislation

“…Latent heat store systems which keep either the engine or the catalytic systems [14] at operation temperature show clear improvement potential, although the time is at present limited to 12 to 24 hours. Large-scale use, particularly of the insulated catalytic converter, depends partly on the judgment of local authorities (are increased emissions to be allowed after longer standing times?)…”

Numerical Simulation of Melting with Natural Convection Based on Lattice Boltzmann Method and Performed with CUDA Enabled GPU

“…Heat storage technologies now are widely used as an effective means to manage the energy availability and decrease the temperature fluctuations in various practical applications, such as in the electronics industry [1], the automotive industry [2,3] and building design [4,5]. Compared to the sensible heat storage [6], the latent heat storage has a significant advantage as it uses less storage volume to achieve a specified amount of heat load.…”