An application of CFD to improve warm-up performance of the 3-way auto-catalyst by high surface area and low thermal mass
by Soo-Jin Jeong, Woo-Seung Kim, Taehun Kim
International Journal of Vehicle Design (IJVD), Vol. 29, No. 3, 2002

Abstract: Mathematical modelling of three-way catalytic converter (3WCC) operation is used increasingly in the optimisation of automobile converter systems. But almost all of previous computational models were based on an ''adiabatic one-channel'' approach with the reaction kinetics computations, which is useful and efficient in predicting real-world performance of the catalyst. However, as long as flow maldistribution is not accounted for in the models, simulation results will not be reliable. In this work, 2-dimensional performance prediction of catalyst has been performed by using turbulent flow simulation coupled with reaction mechanism for surface chemistry and the results were compared with experimental data and one channel simulation in the literature. The computational results from this study show the better prediction accuracy in terms of CO, HC and NO conversion efficiencies compared to those of the 1-D adiabatic model. Varying cell density and hot spot moving pattern within the monolith during warm-up period are also considered. The results indicate that the higher cell density giving much larger geometric surface area shows the faster movement of thermal front of hot spot due to the higher convective heat transfer rate.

Online publication date: Fri, 15-Aug-2003

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Vehicle Design (IJVD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com