An On-Board Reductant Delivery System for Diesel Aftertreatment 2001-01-3622

It has become evident that almost all diesel aftertreatment devices dealing with NOx and particulate matter (PM) controls require the addition of one or more reducing agents (reductants), such as diesel fuel, ammonia, or aqueous urea to enhance their efficiency and durability. These reductants can be used to catalytically convert NOx to N₂, to enrich the air fuel ratio (A/F), or to increase temperatures for regenerating PM filters or for de-sulfating NOx traps. A number of injection methods have been developed recently to provide easy reductant addition. However, many of them may be cumbersome, costly, or ineffective. This paper describes a new reductant delivery system, which appears to minimize these shortcomings.

To be effective, the manner of reductant injection into the exhaust is critical. First, the reductant must be added quickly to accommodate the fast transient operations. Secondly, precisely measured quantities of reductant must be added to match the NOx levels or to achieve the desired temperature or A/F. Thirdly, the reductant must be finely dispersed to allow effective utilization on catalytic surfaces. In addition, the delivery system must withstand the harsh environment of high temperature and high PM emissions of the diesel exhaust. The newly developed on-board reductant delivery system, which comprises only three components, not only achieves the above criteria, but also offers simplicity, compactness, light weight, high energy efficiency, excellent durability, and low cost.