Influence of Phosphorous Poisoning on TWC Catalysts

Gasoline engine oils contain a variety of additives including phosphorous-based compounds, for maintaining their characteristics. During the life of the vehicle, oil is consumed via piston ring blowby or leakage from valve stem guides. Phosphorous compounds from the consumed oil end up being deposited on the three way conversion catalysts resulting in a degradation of the conversion efficiencies of all three pollutants, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. To simulate this deterioration in performance, an accelerated aging cycle has been developed which replicates the effect of the interaction between the phosphorous species and the washcoat components. This paper describes the poison aging protocol and the effect of aging temperature, poison level and duration of aging.

In this paper, we will we also discuss some of the catalyst deactivation mechanisms and methods to simulate them using dynamometer-mounted engines. Methods used for testing dynamometer-aged emissions control systems will also be discussed. We will also show how catalysts are analyzed for deactivation using various analytical laboratory techniques.