The Design of a New Ceramic Catalyst Support

The development of a stronger cordierite material with much less porosity than the current material allows the manufacture of substrates with the same strength as the current part but with proportionately thinner walls. In the process of analyzing the properties of this new substrate it was discovered that optimum performance can be realized by using specially chosen combinations of cell density and wall thickness.

Using the properties of this new material and the equations which relate material and structural features to substrate performance, substrate designs have been identified which in one case minimize the back pressure while maintaining the catalyst performance at the present level, and in another case maximize the catalyst performance while maintaining the back pressure at the present level. Other optimum design points are also indicated.