Soot Loading Distribution as a Key Factor for a Reliable DPF System: An Innovative Development Methodology

The most critical aspect of the DPF technology is the maximum soot collection limit which is related to the local soot concentration and the thermal stress during regeneration. In order to keep this parameter under control the only method used so far was to manage (periodical operation, back-pressure measurement) the overall soot loading, neglecting the other important factor: soot distribution. Many experiences show that, with the same overall soot amount, a strongly non-homogeneous soot collection can cause much higher temperature peaks than an homogeneous one. The effects on the durability of the substrate are evident. Aim of this work is to investigate the possibility of characterizing the soot distribution in order to improve the durability performances of the DPF System. Indirect measurement methods and a computational tool, which we developed, are investigated, for different loading conditions.