Impact of Fuel Metal Impurities on the Durability of a Light-Duty Diesel Aftertreatment System

Conference · Mon Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-0513· OSTI ID:1079095

Williams, A.; Burton, J.; McCormick, R. L.; Toops, T.; Wereszczak, A. A.; Fox, E. E.; Lance, M. J.; Cavataio, G.; Dobson, D.; Warner, J.; Brezny, R.; Nguyen, K.; Brookshear, D. W.

Alkali and alkaline earth metal impurities found in diesel fuels are potential poisons for diesel exhaust catalysts. A set of diesel engine production exhaust systems was aged to 150,000 miles. These exhaust systems included a diesel oxidation catalyst, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst, and diesel particulate filter (DPF). Four separate exhaust systems were aged, each with a different fuel: ultralow sulfur diesel containing no measureable metals, B20 (a common biodiesel blend) containing sodium, B20 containing potassium, and B20 containing calcium, which were selected to simulate the maximum allowable levels in B100 according to ASTM D6751. Analysis included Federal Test Procedure emissions testing, bench-flow reactor testing of catalyst cores, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and measurement of thermo-mechanical properties of the DPFs. EPMA imaging found that the sodium and potassium penetrated into the washcoat, while calcium remained on the surface. Bench-flow reactor experiments were used to measure the standard nitrogen oxide (NOx) conversion, ammonia storage, and ammonia oxidation for each of the aged SCR catalysts. Vehicle emissions tests were conducted with each of the aged catalyst systems using a chassis dynamometer. The vehicle successfully passed the 0.2 gram/mile NOx emission standard with each of the four aged exhaust systems.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Vehicle Technologies Program
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1079095
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5400-57585
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALKALI
ALKALINE
DIESEL EXHAUST CATALYSTS
DIESEL FUELS
EARTH METAL IMPURITIES
EXHAUST SYSTEM AGING
FORD F250 PICKUP
Transportation