Thermal Reliability and Performance Improvement of Close-Coupled Catalytic Converter

This paper proposes a high temperature catalytic converter design using a ceramic substrate and intumescent matting. It also describes the improvement of converter performance using an advanced thin wall ceramic substrate. Due to future tightening of emission regulations and improvement of fuel economy, higher exhaust gas temperatures are suggested. Therefore, reduction of thermal reliability of an intumescent mat will be a concern because the catalytic converter will be exposed to high temperatures. For this reason, a new design converter has been developed using a dual cone structure for both the inlet and outlet cones. This minimizes heat conduction through the cone and decreases the temperature affecting the mat area. This design converter, without the use of a heat-shield, reduces the converter surface temperature to 441°C despite a catalyst bed temperature of 1050°C. The long term durability of the converter is demonstrated by the hot vibration test. Since the new design converter does not need a heat-shield, the catalyst diameter can be enlarged by the width of the air gap used in the current design converter. By using an advanced thin wall ceramic substrate, such as 0.11 mm/620 kcpsm {4 mil/400 cpsi}, it is possible to improve emission performance and pressure drop compared with the conventional 0.16 mm/620 kcpsm {6 mil/400 cpsi} ceramic substrate.