Impact of Particulate Traps on the Hydrocarbon Fraction of Diesel Particles

Particulate traps reduce particle emissions through the physical filtration of solid, predominantly carbonaceous particles and decreasing particle-bound hydrocarbon emissions. Catalyst coated and uncoated traps were examined for their ability to reduce particle-bound hydrocarbons.

At low exhaust temperatures some volatile hydrocarbons are particle-bound in the trap and are physically retained. These components become gaseous and are purged from the trap with sharp exhaust temperature rises. Oxidation catalysts considerably improve the ability of traps to decrease particle-bound hydrocarbon emissions, particularly PAH at low exhaust temperatures. Precious metal coated traps generate sulfate particles so that especially at high exhaust temperatures the overall filter efficiency can be reduced.