Diesel Soot Oxidation with NO₂:  Engine Experiments and Simulations

Abstract

The diesel particulate filters (DPFs) technology has impressively advanced especially during the last years, driven by the interest in the reduction of automobile particulate emissions. This paper is concerned with the effect of NO2 as an active oxidation agent in the regeneration process of the soot accumulated in the particulate filter. Experiments at realistic conditions using a diesel engine equipped with a standard oxidation catalyst and a particulate filter are carried out at a wide range of operating conditions. These results are used to validate an already available mathematical model of the NO2-assisted regeneration phenomena in the particulate filter. The combined use of experimental and modeling results provides interesting conclusions regarding the significance and the chemistry of the reaction of soot with NO2. The advantages and drawbacks of such an approach compared to standard laboratory synthetic gas studies are discussed. The agreement between experimental and simulation results in terms of engineering interest (rate of soot accumulation or depletion) is quite satisfactory and indicates that such a type of model could be a promising design tool.