Metal Supported Particulate Matter-Cat, A Low Impact and Cost Effective Solution for a 1.3 Euro IV Diesel Engine

Modern Diesel Engines equipped with Common-Rail Direct Injection, EGR and optimized combustion technology have been proven to reduce dramatically engine raw emissions both in terms of Nox and Particulate Matter.

As a matter of fact the recently introduced FIAT 1.3 JTD 4 Cylinder Engine achieves Euro 4 limits with aid of conventional 2-way oxidation catalyst. Nevertheless some special applications, such as platforms with relatively higher gross vehicle weight possibly yield to PM-related issues.

The present paper deals with the development program carried out to design a cost effective aftertreatment solution in order to address particulate matter tailpipe emissions. The major constraint of this development program was the extremely challenging packaging conditions and the absolute demand to avoid any major impact on the system design.

The flow-through metal supported PM Filter Catalyst has been extensively tested on the specific vehicle application with aid of roller bench setup. Partial engine load soot loading, continuous regeneration and long term soot trapping efficiency have been addressed during the present work.