Investigation on a Novel Reactor Design for Emission Control Catalysts -Modeling and Experimental Results-

It is well known that the catalytic efficiency and durability of an automotive catalytic converter can be significantly affected by its design. This paper demonstrates the potential for further improvement in both the durability and efficiency by using a novel catalytic converter concept based on a large frontal area, high cell density substrate.

This concept requires that attention be paid to optimization of the flow as well as of the mounting system. The converter design is determined with a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation and the effect of this design on the temperature distribution in the substrate is calculated and measured.

Due to this novel converter concept the maximum substrate temperature is reduced, which results in a better aging behavior. This improvement allows a reduction in precious metal content without a loss in efficiency. Investigations concerning the resonance frequencies of the novel converter design show no critical values with respect to automotive conditions.

Experimental data using this new design will be presented and discussed and will demonstrate the potential and limits of this novel concept.