The consumption of fossil and especially alternative fuels from renewable sources is supposed to rise in the future. Biofuels as well as fossil fuels often contain alkali and alkaline earth metal impurities that are potential poisons for automotive exhaust catalysts. The impact of these contaminations on the long-time performance of the exhaust aftertreatment system is a major concern. However, engine test bench studies consume considerable amounts of fuel, manpower and time. The purpose of this research project was to examine whether accelerated engine tests can be achieved by a modified diesel aftertreatment system in a test bench and contamination of biodiesel with known amounts of elements potentially poisoning automotive catalysts. A variety of potentially harmful elements (sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S) and phosphorous (P)) were added all at once to enhance the contamination level in biodiesel. A diesel oxidation catalyst and a catalyst for selective catalytic reduction reaction were placed in a stream of exhaust gas generated with a single cylinder engine. For reference purposes, a second test series was performed with a commercially available biodiesel. Catalysts were analyzed post-mortem using a bench flow reactor and X-ray fluorescence regarding their activity and deposition of the harmful elements. For both diesel oxidation catalyst and selective catalytic reduction catalysts, significant deactivation and decrease in conversion rates could be proven. For diesel oxidation catalyst, linear correlations between mass fractions of added elements and aging time were observed.
Accelerated performance and durability test of the exhaust aftertreatment system by contaminated biodiesel
