Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NANDEEC (NANO-FIBEROUS CATALYSED FILTERS FOR DIESEL EXHAUST EMISSION CONTROL)
Teaser
Particulate emission is the thrust of area of research for the automotive and oil industries to reduce the exhaust emissions from diesel engines and to meet the stringent emission norms. Diesel particulate filter (DPF) is used in separation of carbonatious particles by...
Summary
Particulate emission is the thrust of area of research for the automotive and oil industries to reduce the exhaust emissions from diesel engines and to meet the stringent emission norms. Diesel particulate filter (DPF) is used in separation of carbonatious particles by mechanical filtration and subsequent burning of the DPM in order to avoid pressure drop by filter plugging. In this project the nanofibers catalysts were synthesized by coprecipitation / ripening method. A synthesized nanofiber catalyst shows the highest catalytic activity for particulate combustion, lowering the particulate combustion temperature by 100oC, as compared with the un-catalysed reaction. The nanofibers showing the most effective catalytic activity towards particulate combustion reaction were supported on a DPF for real engine experiments. A standard 4-cylinder Ford engine equipped with turbocharged common rail direct injection diesel engine was installed in the engine lab of University of Birmingham. The engine coolant was cooled by laboratory water and coolant temperature was fixed between 77oC -85oC by thermal valve.In summary, this project demonstrated, synthesized nanofiber shows the highest catalytic activity for soot combustion. The nanofibers morphology of the catalyst maximizes the contact between the soot particles and the catalyst at increasing degrees of soot-catalyst contact. Nanofibers technology has to shape itself to prove as a techno-economically feasible practical solution. As a result of this work the Research Fellow has acquired a strong intellectual knowledge and practical skills which have allowed him to consolidate his future career.
Work performed
The project has been divided into 6 Work Packages (WP) in order to achieve the project objectives.
WP 1 Design and development of fibrous non-noble metal based catalyst coated DPF.
The nanofibers were synthesized by coprecipitation / ripening method. The nanofibers showing the most effective catalytic activity towards particulate matter combustion reaction then supported on a DPF. The load of deposited catalyst was assessed by quantitative analysis. WP 2 Detailed characterization of nanofibers catalysts coated DPF
Detailed characterisation of nanofibers and nanofiber coated DPF i.e. purity, structural morphology, composition and nanofibers layer thickness on DPF support was done The findings from this investigation are drafted for submission in a journal.
WP 3 Customising the engine setup and baseline data generation
In this task before doing engine experiments we have done lab scale activity test of the nanofiber catalyst which was carried out by using thermal Gravimetric Analysis- Mass Spectroscopy (TGA-MS- Netzsch-equipped with MS). A synthesized nanofiber catalyst shows the highest catalytic activity for particulate combustion, lowering the particulate combustion temperature by 100oC, as compared with the un-catalysed reaction.
The nanofibers showing the most effective catalytic activity towards particulate combustion reaction were supported on a DPF for real engine experiments. A standard 4-cylinder Ford engine equipped with turbocharged common rail direct injection diesel engine was installed in the engine laboratory. A Horiba MEXA-7100 emission analyser was used to measure exhaust gaseous emissions, including NOx, HC, CO, O2 as well as the EGR ratio. A DMS was used to measure the particulate number and size distribution in part of the tests. An AVL smoke meter was used to measure smoke concentration in the exhaust. WP3 was successfully completed and baseline data has been generated under this task.
The lab scale activity results (TGA-MS) from this investigation are drafted for submission in a journal.
WP 4: Evaluation and optimisation of catalyst morphology of DPF by engine testing
Under this task the DPF (with catalyst) was installed in the exhaust pipe. The engine tests were conducted at different speed /load condition and at different ambient temperature conditions and the data logged in. The synthesised catalyst coated DPF prototype shows good activity and low back pressure. Particulate was reduced by 95% and HC was reduce by 15% NOx was reduce by 20% and back pressure difference about 20mbar compared to the uncatalysed. The synthesised nanofiber catalyst was modified and series of experiment was conducted to achieve expected results. Finally the particulate was 98% reduction, HC was 30% and NOx was 40% reduced and the back pressure difference was 30 mbar compared the uncatalysed. All the experiment was conducted in this task was done by normal driving cycle. The finding from the engine experiment results from this investigation are drafted in the form of technical paper entitled ‘Effects of Manganese oxide fibres on particulate matter reduction under real diesel engine exhaust conditions’ and prepared for submission in a journal.
WP 5 Catalysed diesel particulate filter durability studies and re-optimisation
The durability test was done for 12 hrs with catalysed DPF and it was subjected to different load and speed and gaseous and particulate emissions were analysed. The performance of the DPF was not deteriorated and meeting with the same results which we were recorded on WP 4. WP 6 Dissemination and transfer of the knowledge
We published our findings related to this project in the APCAT-7 international conference. This had given a wide exposure about the importance of nanofiber after exhaust PM treatment research to the international research community
Final results
The work carried out under this project has yielded fruitful results and the new findings will be submitted in high ranked international journals and conferences. Visitors and students were allowed to visit the test facility during the Open days and they had experience of nanofiber based after exhaust treatment facility.
We published our findings related to this project in the APCAT-7 international conference. This had given a wide exposure about the importance of nanofiber after exhaust PM treatment research to the international research community.
Dr Tanwar has involved in guidance of doctoral students providing opportunities to develop his mentoring skills and simulation of nanofiber catalyst based DPF research. She has also been involved in research group meetings which discuss latest research topics where she has shared his research and work experience in the areas of vehicular industry. Moreover, she has attended a number of special lectures held in the School and has also met with many of industrial partners of research group. Dr Tanwar shared her gained knowledge through publications/ meetings as well as in mentoring research students in the group. She participated in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Conference ESOF Satellite Event ‘Research and Society’ which was held on 28 & 29 July 2016 in Manchester, the United Kingdom. She participated in the 2017 International Particle Meeting held at University of Cambridge on 23 June 2017. This had given an opportunity to Dr Tanwar to improve her communication skills and networking with the scientific community in UK and Europe.