Effect of Butanol on the Performance of DeNOx Aftertreatment Systems of a Diesel Vehicle Under WLTC Driving Conditions

Advanced biofuels and electrofuels, among which are medium-long chain alcohols, have gained importance in the transport sector with the enforcement of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001). In parallel, last European emission regulations have become much more restrictive regarding NOx, so vehicle manufacturers have been forced to incorporate lean NOx trap (LNT) and/or selective catalytic reduction (SCR). Thus, the combination of modern DeNOx devices and the upcoming higher contribution of sustainable biofuels is a new challenge. In this work, two Euro 6 diesel vehicles, one equipped with LNT and the other with ammonia-SCR, have been tested following the Worldwide harmonized Light-duty vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) at warm (24°C) and cold (−7°C) conditions using conventional diesel fuel and a diesel-butanol (90/10% vol.) blend. While the effect of butanol on the LNT efficiency was not significant, its influence on the SCR performance was notable during the low and medium-speed phases of the driving cycle, mainly under warm climatic conditions. Despite of the lower NOx concentration at the catalyst inlet, the worst efficiency of the SCR with butanol could be attributed to hydrocarbons deposition on the catalyst surface, which inhibits the NOx reduction reactions with ammonia. Moreover, the LNT was not sensitive to the ambient temperature while the SCR performance greatly depended on this parameter.

Measures to Reduce the N2O Formation at Perovskite-Based Lean NOx Trap Catalysts under Lean Conditions

The net oxidising atmosphere of lean burn engines requires a special after-treatment catalyst for NOx removal from the exhaust gas. Lean NOx traps (LNT) are such kind of catalysts. To increase the efficiency of LNTs at low temperatures platinised perovskite-based infiltration composites La0.5Sr0.5Fe1-xMxO3-δ/Al2O3 with M = Nb, Ti, Zr have been developed. In general, platinum based LNT catalysts show an undesired, hazardous formation of N2O in the lean operation mode due to a competing C3H6-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) at the platinum sites. To reduce N2O emissions an additional Rh-coating, obtained by incipient wetness impregnation, besides the Pt coating and a two-layered oxidation catalyst (2 wt.% Pd/20 wt.% CeO2/alumina)-LNT constitution, has been investigated. Though the combined Rh-Pt coating shows a slightly increased NOx storage capacity (NSC) at temperatures above 300 °C, it does not decrease N2O formation. The layered oxidation catalyst-LNT system shows a decrease in N2O formation of up to 60% at 200 °C, increasing the maximum NSC up to 176 µmol/g. Furthermore, the NSC temperature range is broadened compared to that of the pure LNT catalyst, now covering a range of 250–300 °C.

Fuel economy, NOx emissions and lean NOx trap efficiency: Lessons from current driving cycles

Transport sector is within a profound changing period, but diesel engines are still called to play a significant role in future supported on their solid share in many regions and superior thermal efficiency compared to spark-ignited engines. This work identifies the parameters that most affect fuel consumption and NOx emissions on a diesel passenger car equipped with a lean NOx trap under different driving cycles and ambient temperatures. High average vehicle velocity was beneficial to reduce the fuel consumed per kilometer. The driving dynamics was of little importance, easily counteracted by a higher thermal efficiency, higher engine temperature (because of a longer trip) or/and an efficient gear shifting strategy. Moreover, at low ambient temperature the latter two factors doubled their weight on fuel economy. Regarding tailpipe NOx, keeping high aftertreatment performance was crucial. For this, low engine-out NOx emissions were four times more important than exhaust temperature or flow rate.

Developing On-Road NOx Emission Factors for Euro 6b Light-Duty Diesel Trucks in Korean Driving Conditions

This study aimed to develop on-road NOx emission factors for Euro 6b light-duty diesel trucks (LDDTs) in Korea. On-road NOx emissions were measured using portable emissions measurement systems and compared with those measured using the Korean Driving Cycle (KDC), the conventional laboratory test used to develop emission factors. To ensure the representativeness of the LDDTs emission factors, five vehicles of three models were driven along two real driving routes for total traveled mileage of 2280 km. On-road NOx levels were 2.1 to 6.9 times higher on average than those measured using the KDC because the latter does not cover the wide variability in vehicle speed and relative positive acceleration, common in real driving conditions. The lean-NOx trap was found to have disappointingly low NOx reduction efficiency in on-road driving. The on-road NOx emission factors by vehicle speeds developed in this study were comparable to the COPERT 4 factors.