In this paper, a new diesel particle filter material made from silicon carbide sintered in a liquid phase is presented. The sintering process allows for controlling of certain parameters that influence the extrusion process, the material properties and hence the filtering characteristics. Furthermore, using triangular channel geometry to build up a wall flow filter makes it possible to have a newly segmented geometry that leads to hexagonal shaped filter cartridges.
A variety of on the market available wall flow filter materials are compared with data about material porosity, particle size distribution, strength, specific filtration surface as well other parameters influencing the filtration efficiency. The material characteristics gathered are analyzed and evaluated. With the new approach, especially the demands of the emission control group of heavy duty and off road diesel engines are met, where high filtration efficiency with high ash loading capacity and high material strength have to be combined.
The research project was carried out in collaboration with Fraunhofer Research Institute (IKTS) in Dresden, Germany, and bases on measurements of independent third parties (e.g. University of Clausthal Zellerfeld, Germany) and on tests run on the own engine test bench. It was founded by the European Union and Saxony Bank SAB, Germany. Using the liquid phase sintering SiC process patented for diesel particle filter materials and the innovative geometry, a flexible production line was ramped up especially to meet demands of heavy duty and off road diesel applications.