The loading of a DPF entails the need of trap regeneration by particulate combustion, whose efficiency and frequency are somehow affected by the way soot is deposited along the channels.
The aim of this work is therefore the development of a new experimental methodology able to provide fundamental information about the soot loading process inside the DPF, in order to take advantage of this insight for DPF design and optimization purposes.
Small lab-scale 300 cpsi DPF samples were loaded downstream of the DOC in an ad hoc designed reactor capable of hosting 5 samples, by diverting part of the entire flow produced by an automotive diesel engine at 2500 rpm × 8 BMEP, selected as representative of the most critical operating conditions for soot production during the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC).
Soot layer thickness was then estimated by means of FESEM observations after sample sectioning at progressive locations, obtained through a procedure specifically defined in order to avoid affecting the soot distribution inside the filter and to enable estimation of the actual soot thickness along the channel length.