NO2-Assisted Soot Regeneration Behavior in a Diesel Particulate Filter with Heavy-Duty Diesel Exhaust Gases

A major concern in operating a diesel engine is how to reduce the soot emission from the exhaust gases, as soot has a negative effect on both human health and the environment. More stringent emission regulations make the diesel particulate filter (DPF) an indispensable after-treatment component to reduce diesel soot from exhaust gases. The most important issue in developing an effective DPF, however, is regeneration technology to oxidize the diesel soot trapped in the filter, either periodically or continuously, during regular engine operations. Various methods exist for regenerating diesel soot captured by the filter. Of these, NO2 is widely used for continuous regeneration of diesel soot since it can oxidize diesel soot at lower temperatures than the conventional oxidizer O2 In this work, after introducing governing equations for trapping and regenerating diesel soot in the DPF, regeneration behavior is examined by changing such various parameters as exhaust gas temperature and O2 concentration. Numerical investigation is then performed in order to find the optimum NO2/soot ratio required for continuous regeneration of the soot deposited in the DPF.