A Catalyst Surface Control Automation System for Emission Reduction During Cold Start
This paper presents and discusses experimental data obtained during test simulating the test cycle ECE-15 for a relatively simple method for the reduction of pollutant emissions during a cold start. During a cold start the volume of the exhaust gases is considerably smaller than the ones under full load. Therefore, only a small portion of the catalyst active surface is used to process the gases at the cold start phase. After the light-off at the initial surface the exhaust gases pass from the total catalytic surface which is already pre-heated from the first phase. The experimental results presented here indicate that there is a reduction of the pollutant emissions during the cold start of an engine. The developed system uses the 20% of the catalyst active surface during start-up and the rest of the catalyst surface after this phase, controlled by a proper automation system. At the cold start phase the system focusing the gas flow towards the center core of the monolith, so there is a quicker warm-up of the catalyst and a faster initiation of catalysis in this area. So when the remaining ceramic body of the catalytic converter is used, it is already warmed and the catalysis starts almost immediately.