Electrically-Heated Catalyst System Conversions on Two Current-Technology Vehicles 910612
Two different configurations of electrically-heated catalyst systems were installed on two new production vehicles. A 1990 Buick LeSabre was evaluated with a heated catalyst placed directly in front of the main production catalytic converter while a 1990 Toyota Celica was evaluated with an electrically-heated catalyst placed between the main close-coupled catalytic converter and a smaller downstream production catalytic converter. Initial laboratory studies involved examination of heating strategies to minimize electrical energy requirements, a variety of off-board battery and recharging configurations for their effect on emissions, and multiple air injection strategies to achieve minimum hydrocarbon emissions while avoiding a NOx penalty. Final efforts involved installation of optimized, complete on-vehicle electrically-heated catalyst systems for subsequent on-road mileage accumulation. The vehicle conversions, albeit unaged, exhibited FTP emissions which show promise of meeting the California Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle standards, and have contributed to adoption of low emission standards by the California Air Resources Board.
Citation: Heimrich, M., Albu, S., and Osborn, J., "Electrically-Heated Catalyst System Conversions on Two Current-Technology Vehicles," SAE Technical Paper 910612, 1991, https://doi.org/10.4271/910612. Download Citation
Author(s):
Martin J. Heimrich, Steve Albu, Juan Osborn
Affiliated:
California Air Resources Board El Monte, CA
Pages: 23
Event:
International Congress & Exposition
ISSN:
0148-7191
e-ISSN:
2688-3627
Also in:
SAE 1991 Transactions - Fuels & Lubricants-V100-4
Related Topics:
Low emission vehicles (LEV) and zero emission vehicles (ZEV)
Environmental regulations and standards
Catalytic converters
Hydrocarbons
Catalysts
Emissions
SAE MOBILUS
Subscribers can view annotate, and download all of SAE's content.
Learn More »