Exhaust aftertreatment systems must function sufficiently over the full useful life of a vehicle. In Europe this is currently defined as 160.000 km. With the introduction of Euro 7 it is expected that the required mileage will be extended to 240.000 km. This will then be consistent with the US legislation.
In order to quantify the emission impact of exhaust system degradation, an Euro 7 exhaust aftertreatment system is aged by different accelerated approaches: application of the Standard Bench Cycle, the ZDAKW cycle, a novel ash loading method and borderline aging. The results depict the impact of oil ash on the oxygen storage capacity. For tailpipe emissions, the maximum peak temperatures are the dominant aging factor. The cold start performance is effected by both, thermal degradation and ash accumulation.
An evaluation of this emission increase requires appropriate benchmarks. For this purpose, an analysis of the emission impacts of ambient temperatures, driving modes and particulate filter regenerations follows. The comparison shows the severe impact of very low ambient conditions. Considering the high statistical relevance of catalyst degradation however, full useful life optimization requires special attention for Euro 7 gasoline engine applications.