A Multi-Dimensional Numerical Method for Predicting Warm-Up Characteristic of Automobile Catalytic Converter Systems

A multi-dimensional numerical method for predicting the warm-up characteristic of automobile catalytic converter systems was developed to effectively design catalytic converter systems which achieve low tail pipe emissions with satisfactory packagebility. The features of the method are;

(1) consideration of the governing phenomena such as gas flow, heat transfer, and chemical reactions (2) capability of predicting warm-up characteristic for not only the catalytic converters but also the system as a whole during emission test modes such as the USA LA-4 mode.

The description of the method is presented. The experimental verifications of the method were conducted to assure the accuracy of it. The effect of design parameters such as electrically heated catalyst (EHC), high loading of noble metal and thin honeycomb wall on warm-up characteristic of the catalyst are analyzed in the paper.