Accelerated Ageing Method of Three Way Catalyst Run on Test Bed with Emission Performance and Oxygen Storage Capacity Evaluation

The aim of this paper was to describe a method of accelerated three way catalytic converter (TWC) ageing performed on the engine test bed for European On Board Diagnostics (EOBD) monitoring purposes and screening of different catalysts solutions. To accelerate the catalyst ageing process, the exhaust gas temperature was elevated to a range 1000 - 1200°C, which is typical for an ageing cycle performed using ovens. Catalyst emissions performance was checked at new condition (after degreening) and subsequently at predefined ageing intervals, based on the oxygen storage capacity (OSC) evaluation. The emission tests were performed in the laboratory on the chassis dynamometer using legislative cycles. The accelerated ageing method was found to be of use for verifying the EOBD functionality under vehicle operation with a degraded catalyst substrate. Secondly, the described method allows execution of a time-efficient ageing cycle on a test bed in order to validate catalyst chemistry and lifetime and also to compare various catalyst samples with competitive technologies.