Next Generation Catalysts are Turbulent:Development of Support and Coating

Future catalyst systems need to be highly efficient in a limited packaging space. This normally leads to a design where the flow distribution, in front of the catalyst, is not perfectly uniform.

Measurements on the flow test bench show that the implementation of perforated foils for the corrugated and flat foils has the capability to distribute the flow within the channels in the radial direction so that the maximum of the given catalyst surface is of use, even under very poor uniformity indices. Therefore a remarkable reduction in back pressure is measured. Emission results demonstrate cold start improvement due to reduced heat capacity.

The use of LS - structured ( Longitudinal structured ) corrugated foils creates a high turbulence level within the single channels. The substrate lights-up earlier and the maximum conversion efficiency is reached more quickly. It can be shown that a reduced catalyst volume 300 LS Metalit support with 50 μm foil thickness creates the same efficiency, during the European Driving cycle, like a 600 cpsi with ultra thin wall ceramic support. The combination of LS type corrugated foil with perforated flat foils further improves catalyst efficiency.