Ash Transport and Deposition, Cake Formation and Segregation-A Modeling Study on the Impact of Ash on Particulate Filter Performance

Non-combustible particles, commonly summarized as ash, influence the lifetime performance of wall flow filters. This study aims to investigate this influence by means of simulation. An existing transient 1D+1D wall flow filter model is extended by dedicated transport balances for soot and ash (1), by a discrete cake model describing changing soot and ash compositions over the cake height (2), by a phenomenological cake filtration model (3), by dedicated cake property models (4) and by a phenomenological model capturing the radial mobility of solids within the cake (5). Results of three different types of simulations are shown. First, the various sub-models are assessed in isolated simulation configurations. The combination of these shall serve as theoretical model validation. Second, isolated loading and passive regeneration simulations are performed. This aims to identify the impact of different filtration and cake migration constants on soot and ash segregation (i.e. ash accumulation) and on soot conversion performance. Third, the impact of ash during a combined loading and passive regeneration cycle is investigated. This aims to identify the impact of ash on the formation of a soot balance point.