Study of Fouling Phenomena on EGR Coolers due to Soot Deposits. Development of a Representative Test Method.

An investigation was performed to characterize impact of soot deposition in the performance of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooling devices used in the EGR systems for diesel engines. The objective was to find an experimental test able to represent durability of the function in a real vehicle application. In order to apply the test as a validation tool in the EGR cooler design chain, this experimental test must be feasible in terms of time and test facilities. Thus, the definition of a test facility and of a cycle containing representative operation points of the engine has been made. The number of cycles has been adjusted to reproduce effect of vehicle exposure. The comparison of experimental test characterization with parts recovered from field and engine bench tests shows a good agreement, proving therefore the representativeness of the experimental test.