Downloaded from SAE International by Indian Institute of Technology - Chennai, Saturday, January 27, 2018
Diesel Exhaust Aftertreatment System Packaging
and Flow Optimization on a Heavy-Duty Diesel
Engine Powered Vehicle
Philip Wetzel and James Edward McCarthy, Jr.
Eaton Corp.
Milind Kulkarni and Lokanath Mohanta
Eaton Technologies Private Limited
Gregory Griffin
Navistar, Inc.
ABSTRACT
Diesel exhaust aftertreatment systems are required for
meeting both EPA 2010 and final Tier 4 emission regulations
while meeting the stringent packaging constraints of the
vehicle. The aftertreatment system for this study consists of a
fuel dosing system, mixing elements, fuel reformer, lean NOx
trap (LNT), diesel particulate filter (DPF), and a selective
catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst. The fuel reformer is used
to generate hydrogen (H 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) from
injected diesel fuel. These reductants are used to regenerate
and desulfate the LNT catalyst. NOx emissions are reduced
using the combination of the LNT and SCR catalysts. During
LNT regeneration, ammonia (NH 3 ) is intentionally released
from the LNT and stored on the downstream SCR catalyst to
further reduce NOx that passed through the LNT catalyst.
This paper addresses system packaging and exhaust flow
optimization for heavy-duty line-haul and severe service
applications. Various packaging options are provided for both
applications. Exhaust flow and fuel vaporization optimization
was conducted using computational fluid dynamics followed
by test cell and vehicle test results. Performance metrics were
met including 97% uniformity for fuel vaporization and 97%
uniformity for exhaust flow distribution having less than 2%
fuel pulse broadening. The optimized system met the
packaging constraints and EPA 2010 emission regulations.
SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
2010-01-1944
Published
10/05/2010
Copyright © 2010 SAE International
I. INTRODUCTION
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued emission
legislation for diesel engine vehicles. EPA year 2010
emissions are currently required for on-highway vehicles
while meeting final Tier 4 emission standards for off-
highway vehicles will be required in 2014. The feasibility of
a fuel reformer, lean NOx trap (LNT) and selective catalytic
reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system to meet a final Tier 4
emissions standard of 0.4 g/kW-hr NOx and EPA 2010
emission standards of 0.2 g/bhp-hr NOx has been addressed
[1, 2]. This paper addresses the simulation optimization and
vehicle packaging of an aftertreatment system meeting EPA
2010 emission regulations on a heavy-duty engine platform.
Detailed simulation results are provided for vaporizing and
mixing diesel fuel upstream of a fuel reformer catalyst.
Multiple packaging options are provided using the simulation
results for heavy-duty vehicle installations.
The aftertreatment system consists of a fuel dosing system,
mixing elements, fuel reformer, LNT, diesel particulate filter
(DPF), and SCR catalyst arranged in series. A sample
configuration of this system is shown in Figure 1. Similar
systems using LNT and SCR technology without a fuel
reformer are cited in literature [3, 4]. A fuel reformer is
utilized to generate hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide
(CO) using injected diesel fuel. These reductants are used to
regenerate and desulfate the LNT catalyst. NOx emissions are
reduced using the combination of the LNT and SCR catalysts.
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During LNT regeneration, ammonia (NH3) is intentionally
released from the LNT and stored on the downstream SCR
catalyst to further reduce NOx that passed through the LNT
catalyst. This approach converts the drawbacks of the single
leg LNT approach (low conversion during regeneration and
NH3 slip) into an advantage while remaining independent of
any urea infrastructure since diesel fuel is the only reductant
[1, 5,6,7,8,9]. The DPF is regenerated using the fuel reformer
similar to a diesel oxidation catalyst by injecting fuel under
lean exhaust operating conditions.
Figure 1. Aftertreatment system layout
Figure 2. Typical reformer operation [1]
The fuel reformer is operated in both lean and rich modes to
provide a means to regenerate the LNT and DPF in the
aftertreatment system. Its two main functions during
regenerations are 1) to consume the residual oxygen in the
exhaust gas stream, and 2) to convert remaining fuel to the
reductants, H2 and CO [1, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. A typical
reformer control is shown in Figure 2. Fuel is injected into
the reformer to warm the catalyst to its operating temperature.
Engine out oxygen is then reduced via engine control to a
144 SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
lower level (i.e., 3.2% in the example). A higher fueling rate
is commanded to consume the remaining oxygen as depicted
by the tailpipe oxygen dropping to zero. This higher rate
creates a rich condition where reformate is produced, as
depicted by the predicted CO and H2 profiles. The reformate
is key to regenerating and desulfating the downstream LNT.
The fuel reformer operation is optimized by creating a
uniform fuel and exhaust flow distribution upstream of the
fuel reformer catalyst. Previous works have shown that the
fuel distribution upstream of the fuel reformer is proportional
to the downstream temperature distribution when the fuel
reformer is operated in lean mode [12]. The fuel distribution
is key during transitions from lean to rich mode operation. A
uniform fuel distribution produces a uniform downstream
temperature profile, while a non-uniform fuel distribution can
result in non-uniform richness levels exiting the reformer.
This paper will define key a metric for the fuel distribution
that will be referred to as epsilon (ε). Likewise, the exhaust
flow distribution metric referred to as gamma (γ) and the fuel
pulse broadening metric referred to as psi (ψ) will be defined.
The simulation results will be provided that meet the required
targets for efficient operation of the fuel reformer.
The simulation optimization and packaging developed in this
work were used to demonstrate heavy-duty aftertreatment
emissions that met EPA 2010 levels. The fuel dosing system
used in this work provides a smaller drop size distribution
than previous works [12] and is described in recent literature
[13]. The aftertreatment results from this work were applied
to meeting EPA 2010 levels and were also described in recent
literature [14]. The simulation results were applied to a 13L
heavy-duty diesel engine. The engine was a 2010
development engine rated at 475 hp with peak torque of 1750
ft-lb. The engine was calibrated for two separate engine NOx
levels. As a result, two different aftertreatment systems were
procured for the demonstration of meeting EPA 2010 tailpipe
emission levels of 0.2 g/bhp-hr NOx. The first aftertreatment
system was sized for an engine out NOx level of 1.0 g/bhp-hr
while the second aftertreatment system was sized for an
engine out NOx level of 0.5 g/bhp-hr. Although two different
aftertreatment systems were procured, the fuel injection
system, fuel vaporization and fuel reformer catalysts
remained the same for both systems. As a result, the fuel
vaporization simulation applied to both aftertreatment
systems.
II. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
SYSTEM PACKAGING
Figure 3 shows a ProStar vehicle that was used for the
aftertreatment demonstration which includes the
aftertreatment system. The fuel reformer, LNT and DPF are
positioned under the cab next to the fuel tank while the SCR
is position in the vertical stack.
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Figure 3. Aftertreatment demonstration vehicle
The aftertreatment system was sized for two separate engine
calibrations. Table 1 shows the sizing for an engine NOx
calibration of 1.0 g/bhp-hr and 0.5 g/bhp-hr. Two systems
were sized to meet the EPA 2010 emission NOx level of 0.2
g/bhp-hr. The fuel reformer was sized to 300 mm (11.81″)
OD × 101.5 mm (3.99″) long for both engine calibrations. A
thermal mass that had equivalent size as the fuel reformer
was positioned downstream of the fuel reformer to thermally
isolate the LNT from temperature spikes. A 304.8 mm (12″)
OD × 203.2 mm (8″) long LNT was used to adsorb the engine
out NOx on the high NOx engine while a shorter LNT (i.e.,
152.4 mm (6″) long) was used on the low NOx engine. The
304.8 mm (12″) OD × 304.8 mm (12″) long DPF was used to
capture soot from the engine. The last catalyst was the SCR
having a size of 304.8 mm (12″) OD × 203.2 (8″) long for the
high NOx engine and a shortened SCR (i.e., 152.4 mm (6″)
long) for the low NOx engine.
Table 1. Sizing of the Aftertreatment System Components
Figure 4 shows the experimental system layout used for the
aftertreatment system evaluation. The system consists of (a)
an in-line fuel doser, (b) downpipe with a mixer, (c) fuel
reformer, (d) thermal mass upstream of (e) LNT, (f) DPF, and
(g) SCR. This packaging layout was installed on the ProStar
vehicle. The main focus of this paper was developing the
proper mixing and vaporization system from the fuel doser to
the fuel reformer. The vehicle routing of the downpipe was
fixed while the mixing elements and the inlet cone to the fuel
reformer were key elements optimized using computational
fluid dynamics (CFD). The vehicle packaging was developed
SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
using aftertreatment fuel injection and vaporization
simulations [12].
Figure 4. Experimental system layout
Figure 5 shows the installation of the aftertreatment system
on the ProStar vehicle. The aftertreatment system included
dual fuel injectors for in-pipe diesel injection, a custom
downpipe, removable DPF cap for ash cleaning, an electronic
control unit (ECU) for aftertreatment controls, and a wiring
harness. The right hand portion of the figure represents the
exhaust inlet to the aftertreatment system. The exhaust
entered the fuel reformer catalyst through an expansion cone.
The thermal mass, LNT, DPF and SCR were positioned
downstream of the fuel reformer. The vehicle was operated
with the low NOx engine calibration. The heavy-duty vehicle
was fitted with provisions for aftertreatment systems using
both the high and low NOx engine calibrations as the main
difference was the length of the LNT and SCR catalysts. The
length of the LNT and SCR canning was set for the longer
catalyst bricks while for the low NOx calibration, shorter
bricks were installed.
The aftertreatment system required a fuel doser having a flow
range of 50 to 1000 grams per minute to meet the heavy-duty
aftertreatment fuel flow requirements for all modes of
operation. Although a fuel system was developed having this
flow rate, the aftertreatment demonstration vehicle used two
fuel injectors each having a flow range of 30 to 500 g/min.
Hence, a flow range of 30 to 1000 g/min was realized. The
fuel dosers were mounted to the exhaust pipe on the vehicle
as shown in Figure 6. The fuel dosing system had a drop size
distribution that was conducive for fuel vaporization having a
Sauter mean diameter ranging between 60 and 70 microns
[13]. These drop sizes are smaller than previous fuel dosing
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systems [12]. The fuel injectors employed a recirculating
cooling loop from the fuel tank to an external electrical
pump, which funneled diesel fuel to the injectors and back to
the fuel tank. The fuel would be supplied from the low
pressure gear pump for serial production.
Figure 5. Aftertreatment vehicle setup
Figure 6. Aftertreatment fuel dosing system mounted to
the vehicle exhaust pipe
The aftertreatment system test results from the simulations
described in this paper are cited in the literature [14]. The test
results include both dynamometer and vehicle test results for
the required test cycles showing compliance to EPA 2010
emission standards.
CFD METHODOLOGY
The design process for developing the fuel vaporization and
mixing upstream of the fuel reformer catalyst relied on CFD
simulations prior to procuring hardware. Previous works
showed that hardware iterations can be reduced using fuel
vaporization and mixing models [12]. Multiple design
iterations can be tested in a short period of time by relying on
computer simulation to predict flow dynamics.
This section provides a description of the key CFD steps used
to develop the fuel vaporization and mixing in the
146 SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
aftertreatment system downpipe. A general description of the
engine operating conditions and its affect of fuel vaporization
is provided. The effect of exhaust temperature and mass flow
rate on fuel vaporization and mixing is described. The key
engine operating conditions used for CFD are described
followed by a description of the exhaust flow uniformity (γ),
fuel vapor uniformity (ε) and fuel pulse broadening (ψ).
These steps were followed to optimize the exhaust downpipe
prior to procuring hardware for testing.
Identifying the proper engine operating conditions for
simulation is necessary for the design process of each new
application. The most challenging exhaust gas temperature
and mass flow rate conditions for vaporizing and mixing
hydrocarbons injected into the exhaust pipe need to be
selected to limit the amount of simulation time while
ensuring proper system performance. Liquid hydrocarbons
are injected into the exhaust pipe. These liquid hydrocarbons
must be vaporized and thoroughly mixed to create a uniform
exhaust gas/hydrocarbon vapor mixture at the inlet to the fuel
reforming catalyst to ensure proper operation [12]. The hot
exhaust gas is the only source of heat to vaporize the injected
hydrocarbons; therefore exhaust gas temperature plays a
critical role in hydrocarbon vaporization. Exhaust gas mass
flow rate has a large effect on mechanical mixing. Finally,
engine duty cycle needs to be considered to ensure proper
system operation under the engine conditions most often
encountered with a given application. Higher power engine
conditions require larger amounts of hydrocarbons to be
injected into the exhaust stream than lower power conditions.
Engine duty cycle, exhaust gas temperatures, and exhaust gas
flow rates are all considered when choosing the engine
conditions to simulate with CFD.
Exhaust gas temperature is important to the vaporization of
the injected hydrocarbons. The heat produced by the engine is
the primary means to vaporize the injected hydrocarbons. A
temperature threshold exits above which the exhaust gas
temperature is needed for the reforming catalyst to operate,
also known as light off. Exhaust gas temperatures below the
light off temperature of the reforming catalyst are not
conducive to operation of the reforming catalyst; thus,
hydrocarbon injection is avoided at these low temperatures.
The reforming catalyst light off temperature serves as the
lowest possible temperature for which hydrocarbons will
need to be injected and vaporized.
Exhaust gas mass flow rate is also an important parameter
that was evaluated during the CFD design process. Diesel
engines in commercial vehicles operate in a combination of
steady state and transient performance. Line-haul vehicles
spend a majority of their time operating in steady state
conditions while severe service vehicles such as refuse
vehicles operate in a stop-and-go environment. The
aftertreatment system must be designed to perform well
across a wide range of exhaust mass flow conditions. Low
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exhaust mass flow rate conditions are more difficult from a
mechanical mixing perspective than high exhaust mass flow
rate conditions because of the lower levels of turbulence. This
can be evaluated using the Reynolds flow number.
Calculating the Reynolds number for exhaust flowing
through a smooth straight pipe of equal diameter as the
downpipe packaged on the ProStar vehicle results in a values
of 7.5e4 and 1.7e5 respectively for the low and high flow
rates, respectively, that will be detailed in the next paragraph.
An exhaust pipe geometry that performs well with a low mass
flow condition may not perform well with a high mass flow
condition. Therefore, the objective is to optimize the design
such that it performs well across the entire flow range of the
engine.
Applications using a ProStar vehicle for line-haul and a
WorkStar vehicle for severe service were the focus for this
effort while both vehicles utilized the same engine. The 13-
mode Supplemental Emissions Test (SET) is a common test
cycle used for emission testing of on-highway engines. The
SET cycle divides the speed and load map of an engine into
three engine speeds referred to as A, B, and C. A speed is a
low speed value, B speed is a medium speed value, and C
speed is near the rated speed. At each speed, there are four
engine load ratings of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the
maximum engine load achievable at each given speed. This
cycle was examined along with the vehicle duty cycles, and it
was determined that two operating conditions were key to
simulate with CFD. The B25 and B100 operating points were
chosen as the conditions to drive the development and
optimization of the exhaust system geometry for these
applications because of the temperatures, exhaust mass flow
rates, and engine duty cycles present at these two operating
points. The B25 condition was a low flow, low temperature
engine operating point while the B100 condition was a high
flow, high temperature engine operating point. Validation
simulations included three additional engine operating modes
at the A25, B50, and C50 operating modes.
The CFD design process is implemented in two stages. The
first stage comprises steady state simulations. These are
single phase (gaseous), exhaust gas only simulations at a
constant mass flow rate in which the primary metric tracked
is γ. This is defined in equation 1 as:
(1)
Where the variables are defined below:
SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
The design target for γ is 0.97 as measured 25.4 mm (1″)
inside (downstream of the inlet face) the reforming catalyst to
ensure a high level of flow uniformity at the inlet to the
reforming catalyst [15]. The reforming catalyst is modeled as
a porous media with only 1D (axial) flow allowed. Measuring
γ at 25.4 mm (1″) inside the reforming catalyst causes the
velocity component to become one-dimensional (axial) while
capturing the flow dynamics observed as the exhaust gas
enters the catalyst. A high level of flow uniformity at the inlet
to a catalyst allows the entire catalyst volume to be properly
utilized.
The second stage of the optimization process is the transient
simulation in which liquid hydrocarbons are injected into the
computational domain in conjunction with the exhaust gas.
The steady state simulation case file is used as an input to
start the transient simulation. The computational time for
these transient simulations is much longer than the
computational time for the steady state simulations. Thus, the
general design process is to utilize steady state simulation to
partially optimize the design while utilizing transient
simulation to complete the design. During a transient
simulation, an actual LNT regeneration event [1, 5,6,7,8,9] is
modeled with a fully transient hydrocarbon injection pulse.
There are two key metrics tracked during transient
simulations. The primary metric is ε. This ε is defined in
equation 2 as:
(2)
Where the variables are defined below:
The target for ε is 0.97 or greater for an optimized design at a
location 25.4 mm (1″) inside the reforming catalyst. This ε
has been shown to be a good metric for predicting the
temperature spread on a fuel reforming catalyst in response to
hydrocarbon injection [15]. A high value of ε results in a low
temperature spread which improves the catalyst's
performance and durability [12, 15].
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The final performance metric is fuel pulse broadening (ψ),
which is expressed as the percentage of total injected
hydrocarbon mass for a single LNT regeneration event that
reaches the inlet to the reforming catalyst after the controls
system has ended the injection pulse. This is a measure of the
integrity of the hydrocarbon injection pulse as it travels
downstream from the point of injection to the inlet of the
reforming catalyst. It is important during rich hydrocarbon
injection to achieve the targeted fuel/air ratio. Excessive fuel
pulse broadening will cause the actual fuel pulse reaching the
reforming catalyst to be a longer event achieving a lower than
targeted fuel/air ratio. The target is to keep ψ below 2.0% of
injected fuel reaching the reforming catalyst after the
injection pulse has been terminated. This value was chosen to
prevent the fuel reformer from operating in both locally lean
and rich modes as the fuel was shut off.
Figure 7 gives a graphical representation ψ. The integral
under the commanded liquid hydrocarbon injection curve
between t1 and t2 is equivalent to the total amount of
hydrocarbons injected into the exhaust pipe. The integral
under the hydrocarbon 1″ inside the reforming catalyst curve
from t2 to t∞ is equivalent to the amount of hydrocarbon
vapor that reaches the reforming catalyst after the
hydrocarbon injection event has terminated. The commanded
liquid hydrocarbon injection curve is defined as I(t) and the
hydrocarbon vapor 1″ inside the reforming catalyst curve is
defined as V(t). Equation 3 defines ψ as the ratio of the I(t)
integral relative to the V(t) integral.
Figure 7. Graphical representation of ψ
(3)
148 SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
These three metrics, γ, ε , and ψ, are not equally important
when evaluating a particular design. Achieving the ε target is
given the highest importance. It has been shown through
experimental methods that meeting the ε target is more
important than meeting the γ target [15]. Meeting the γ target
is given the second highest weighting. Achieving the ψ target
is the least important of the three metrics discussed.
There are also other metrics that are used to guide the CFD
design process. The velocity ratio and γ values at the inlet
plane of the reforming catalyst are used to quantify system
performance. The velocity ratio is the ratio of the lowest
velocity magnitude divided by the average velocity
magnitude in a given plane normal to the exhaust flow. The
velocity ratio varies between zero (worst case) and unity (best
case). The γ value at the face of the reforming catalyst is also
analyzed, along with other planes upstream of the reforming
catalyst. Pressure drop caused by design features is also
considered when optimizing a system with the goal of
maintaining the system back pressure to meet the
performance targets [14].
The B25 and B100 operating points were used to drive the
CFD optimization for the ProStar vehicle. The design was
optimized to meet γ (0.97), ε (0.97) and ψ (< 2.0%) targets.
III. RESULTS
This section provides simulation results for two system
designs for a ProStar vehicle along with a packaging design
for the WorkStar vehicle. The simulation results for the
ProStar vehicle include a design containing a long inlet cone
to the fuel reformer. This configuration was used for a testing
demonstration showing compliance to EPA 2010 emission
standards [14]. A compact packaging design was developed
for the ProStar vehicle showing simulation results similar to
the long inlet cone. The compact packaging results were
extended to a WorkStar vehicle for severe service
applications that require compact packaging.
REFORMER INLET CONE PACKAGING
DESIGN
Figure 8 shows a velocity contour plot for a non-optimized
baseline design for the ProStar vehicle at the B25 operating
condition. The γ value was 0.76 for this design, which was
well below the design target of 0.97. The majority of the
exhaust flow entering the inlet cone to the reforming catalyst
did not fill the reformer inlet cone, but maintained the flow
bias created by the 90 degree bend immediately upstream of
mixer 2 such that the flow propagates on the bottom edge of
the cone to the inlet of the reforming catalyst. The low
velocity region in the cone was a recirculation zone created
by poor flow distribution.
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Figure 8. Sample velocity contour plot
The exhaust flow optimization process started with a study
using steady state simulations for many combinations of
reformer inlet cones, mixer designs and mixer locations. The
baseline reformer inlet cone was used to define the maximum
length that could package on the ProStar vehicle. A design of
experiments (DOE) was conducted, simulating different
straight angle and parabolic inlet cones, along with five
individual mixer designs located in two different locations.
Table 2 shows the DOE design iteration matrix.
Table 2. Steady State DOE Matrix
This study was used to determine the influence of the
reformer inlet cone design, mixer type and mixer location on
γ. Design 9 was selected as the best performing design. This
design included a straight angled cone (cone type A), a tab
mixer (E) at the inlet to the cone, and a double helical mixer
(D) in the vertical section of the downpipe between the two
90 degree bends. The γ value of design 9 was 0.94 for this
B25 operating point. This same design had a γ of 0.98 for the
B100 operating point. The two engine point average resulted
in a γ value of 0.96. This was still slightly below the target
value of 0.97, but experimental results have shown that
between γ and ε, it is much more critical to meet the ε target
than to meet the γ target [15].
The steady state simulation design process resulted in an
optimized exhaust gas flow field at the inlet to the reforming
SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
catalyst. The next step in the CFD design process was to
study transient simulations with hydrocarbon injection. This
style of simulation generated data from which ε values and ψ
values could be extracted. The design was deemed optimized
when simulated results showed ε and ψ targets were met.
Figure 9 shows the results of the transient simulation at the
B25 operating point. Simulation results for the low mass flow
rate and low temperature of the B25 operating mode showed
good performance with regards to ε and ψ. The figure shows
ε values for this operating point exceeded the target value of
0.97. The average ε value over the entire hydrocarbon
injection cycle was 0.99. The ψ value of this simulation was
2.0 %. The ε and ψ targets were met for this simulation. As a
result, the optimized system performance is met at the B25
operating condition.
Figure 9. B25 mode: fuel injection and ε
The B100 operating point was simulated to verify
performance under high mass flow rate and high temperature
conditions. Figure 10 shows the results of the B100
simulation. The ε values observed were nearly 0.99 over the
entire injection cycle, except for the moment directly after the
fourteen second mark in response to the large step change in
hydrocarbon injection rate. At this point, the injection rate of
liquid hydrocarbons more than quadruples from less than 200
g/min to over 850 g/min. This is the transition from lean
fueling to rich fueling. A sudden, momentary drop in ε values
was observed at this point, but the values quickly recovered
to levels near 0.99. The authors attribute this to numerical
instability caused by the sudden increase in fuel injection
rate. Upon hardware testing of this design, system
performance was expected to meet emissions targets which
was confirmed by the system operation cited in the literature
[14]. The average ε value over the entire hydrocarbon
injection pulse was 0.99. The ψ value for this simulation was
0.04 % which met the target value of less than 2.0%.
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Figure 10. B100 mode: fuel injection and ε
Figure 11 shows final, optimized configuration for the
exhaust pipe section preceding the reforming catalyst. This is
the configuration identified as design 9 in the DOE that also
generated the data shown in Figures 9 and 10. The system
inlet attached to the engine turbocharger outlet. The
hydrocarbon injection location was near the inlet to the
system which provided the hottest temperatures to aid in
hydrocarbon vaporization. The function of the upstream
mixer was primarily to mix the fuel vapor and exhaust gas,
while the function of the downstream mixer was primarily to
prevent flow separation in the inlet cone. Both mixers were
used to eliminate the recirculation caused by the flow bias as
the exhaust exited the second 90 degree bend as seen in
Figure 8. This design met the ε (0.97) and ψ (< 2.0%) targets,
while achieving a two mode average γ value of 0.96.
Figure 11. Optimized configuration recommended
through CFD
The geometry of the optimized inlet cone is described. The
length of the inlet cone was approximately 480 mm (19″).
There were approximately 150 additional millimeters (6″) of
length between the inlet of the cone and the centerline axis of
the vertical section of the exhaust pipe (section in which the
upstream mixer is located from Figure 12). This creates a
total horizontal distance of approximately 630 mm (25″)
between the axis of the vertical section of the exhaust pipe
and the inlet face of the reforming catalyst.
150 SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
REFORMER SIDE ENTRY PACKAGING
DESIGN
The reformer inlet cone design described in the preceding
section met the packaging requirements for the intended
vehicle. Some vehicle applications require a more compact
packing design. The 630 mm (25″) packaging length as
previously described for the inlet cone design system was
shortened. This allowed the aftertreatment system to be
packaged on other vehicles with less packaging space
available.
A four step design plan was constructed to reduce the system
length while maintaining equal or better performance than the
inlet cone design. The reduction in packaging lengthwas
accomplished through using a “side inlet” or “side entry” can
design. The first step of the design process was to determine
the performance gains (γ and pressure drop) with respect to
increasing system length through steady state simulation. The
system length was chosen based on these results. Transient
simulations at both B25 and B100 operating conditions were
then evaluated to set ε and ψ baselines for the chosen system
length. The second step of the design process was to optimize
the geometry of the inlet transition between the vertical
section of the exhaust pipe and the reformer can through
steady state simulation. The third step was to optimize the
mixer configuration through steady state simulation. The final
step to the design process was to evaluate transient
simulations at B25 and B100 operating conditions to validate
that the new system design met or exceeded the performance
metrics of the cone inlet design. Final validation simulations
included three additional engine operating modes of A25,
B50, and C50. The side entry design is positioned in front of
the fuel reformer as shown in Figure 12. The results of this
four step design plan are detailed next.
Figure 12. Side entry packaging concept
Five different lengths of the reformer can were designed
based on the packaging space available and the desire to
shorten the packaging length. The maximum length of the
reformer can was set at approximately 760 mm (30″), such
that the inlet of the reforming catalyst was at the same
location as in the cone inlet design. This distance is greater
than the 630 mm (25″) length described in the previous
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section because with this design, a portion of the reformer
can also extends in the upstream direction from the inlet axis
of the vertical section of exhaust pipe.
Figure 13 describes the reformer can length used for the
simulation optimization. The shortest design was sized such
that the length of the reformer can was approximately 220
mm (9″). Three more reformer can lengths were equally
spaced between these maximum and minimum lengths. The
performance of the different lengths of the reformer can was
evaluated on the basis of pressure drop and γ at 25.4 mm (1″)
inside the reforming catalyst.
Figure 13. Definition of reformer can length
Figure 14 shows the variation of the pressure drop and γ with
reformer can length observed from steady state simulation at
the B25 operating point. The simulation predicts that a longer
can is more desirable for both a higher γ and lower pressure
drop. Pressure drop is higher in the shorter reformer can
designs since the velocities at the inlet face of the reforming
catalyst are greater in magnitude when compared with the
longer design. These greater velocity magnitude results are
caused by reduced mixing lengths. The reformer can length
selected from this design step was the 350 mm (14″) can.
There was a significant rise in γ from the 220 mm (9″) design
(γ = 0.86) when the can was extended to 350 mm (14″) (γ =
0.89). Further improvement in γ increased at a slow rate with
respect to increase in can length, indicating a point of
diminishing returns for γ in terms of length increase. The 350
mm (14″) can also exhibited a local minimum with respect to
pressure drop. A reformer can length of 350 mm (14″) was
selected for this design.
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Figure 14. Pressure drop and γ variation with length of
the reformer can
The 350 mm (14″) reformer can design was next validated to
set a performance baseline. This design included a single
static mixer in the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe.
Transient simulations were run to characterize both the B25
and B100 operating conditions with hydrocarbon injection.
Figure 15 shows the results of the B25 simulation. The
simulation predicts that the vapor profile was tracking the
liquid hydrocarbon injection profile. This indicates that the
liquid injected hydrocarbons were completely vaporized by
the time it reached the reforming catalyst. The ε values were
at or above 0.99 for nearly the entire simulation, as seen in
Figure 15. The cycle average ε for this simulation was 0.99.
The ψ value was calculated to be 2.6% for this simulation.
Figure 15. Transient simulation of 350 mm (14″)
reformer can at B25
Figure 16 shows the results of this same geometry for the
B100 operating point. These results are consistent with the
B25 operating conditions with the exception of the transition
from lean fuel injection to rich fuel injection. The decrease in
ε with the large step increase in hydrocarbon injection rate
was observed with this design, mirroring the same results
from the transient B100 simulation with the inlet cone design.
This side entry design also showed a lag in the fuel vapor
mass flow rate reaching the inlet of the reforming catalyst at
the lean/rich transition point which was not observed with the
inlet cone design. The average ε value for the B100
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simulation was found to also be 0.99. The ψ value for the
B100 simulation was found to be 0.5%
Figure 16. Transient simulation of 350 mm (14″)
reformer can at B100
The next step of the design process involved optimizing the
geometry of the inlet to the reformer can. The baseline side
entry can design had the exhaust gas entering tangentially to
the reformer can as shown in Figure 17. This design
maximizes the amount of swirl induced immediately
upstream of the reformer. The swirl is caused by the exhaust
flow entering the reformer can at an offset to the center axis
of the reformer can. A large offset between the axis of the
entering exhaust pipe and the axis of the reformer will induce
a higher velocity swirl than will a small offset. Steady state
simulations were conducted on the five different exhaust pipe
inlet offset distances to optimize the amount of swirl
generated in the reformer can. All five of these steady state
simulations were run at the B25 operating condition. The best
performing design was the 1/4 swirl geometry.
Figure 17. Reformer can swirl optimization
Figure 18 shows velocity contour plots and γ values for the
five different swirl designs at the B25 operating condition.
The 1/2, 3/4, and full swirl geometries all had a dominant,
unidirectional swirl. The unidirectional swirl can be identified
by the low velocity point in the center of the reformer can and
higher velocities seen around the entire periphery. The zero
and swirl_1/4 geometries both showed twin, counter rotating
swirls. This can most easily be seen by looking at the 254
mm (10″) axial position plot of the swirl_0 design. The two
152 SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. | Volume 3 | Issue 1
regions of low velocity indicate a separate swirl about each of
those low velocity regions. The zero swirl design resulted in
both swirls being equally strong, which reduced the γ value at
the inlet face of the reforming catalyst. However, the
swirl_1/4 design exhibited a strong swirl in one direction, and
a weak swirl in the opposite direction. Indication of these
counter rotating swirls can be most clearly seen from the
reformer face velocity contour plot of the swirl_1/4 design in
Figure 18. The low velocity region at the eleven o'clock
position at the periphery of the reformer can indicates that
there was not a unidirectional swirl present along the wall of
the reformer can. This low velocity region at the outer most
radial position is the location where the two counter rotating
swirls meet. Although the γ value 25.4 mm (1″) inside the
reformer was higher for the swirl_0 geometry (0.99) than it
was for the swirl_1/4 geometry (0.98), the swirl_1/4
geometry was selected as the best performing design. Both of
these designs met the γ target of 0.97. Further data analysis
showed that the γ values for cross section planes at the face of
the reformer and upstream of the reformer were higher for the
swirl_1/4 geometry when compared to the swirl_0 geometry.
This suggested the swirl_1/4 inlet geometry would aid in
further reduction in system length if needed in the future.
Figure 18. Exhaust gas velocity contour plots for the five
swirl designs at B25 operating condition
All work discussed through this section for the side inlet
design focused on the design selection for the reformer can
length and the geometry of the side inlet. The baseline design
showed that the ε target was met for both the B25 and B100
operating conditions, and the ψ target was met for B100.
Optimizing the side inlet swirl position improved the γ value
for the B25 operating condition to within the design
specification. The next step in the CFD plan was to optimize
the mixer style and location to achieve the target γ value for
the B100 operating condition and to improve the ψ value at
the B25 operating condition.
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Table 3 summarizes the results of four different mixer
configurations evaluated at the B25 operating condition
utilizing steady state simulation. The baseline design and M2
design both used the same mixer, but at different locations
within the exhaust pipe. The location of the mixer in the
baseline design is similar to the position of upstream mixer
shown in Figure 8, while the mixer is in the vertical section
of the exhaust pipe (Figure 11) for the M2 design. The M1
design simulation did not contain a mixer to assess whether
the presence of a mixer is actually detrimental to the γ value.
The M3 design used a different style mixer in the same
location as the mixer in the M2 design. The baseline design,
M1, and M2 all met the γ target of 0.97 at 25.4 mm (1″)
inside the reformer. γ values upstream of 25.4 mm (1″) inside
the reformer and the velocity ratio at the inlet to the reformer
were then analyzed for the baseline, M1, and M2
configurations. M3 design did not meet the targeted γ 25.4
mm (1″) inside the reformer, but it did show the highest γ
values for the other three planes upstream of 25.4 mm (1″)
inside the reformer. Design M3 also showed the highest
velocity ratio value. Failure to meet the γ criteria for 25.4 mm
(1″) inside the reformer for design M3 will not allow this
mixer configuration to be selected for this design, but it does
show promise if further reduction in system length is required
on a future application. The baseline design was selected as
the best overall performing mixer configuration for the B25
operating condition.
Table 3. γ Optimization through Mixer Design at B25
Operating Condition
Next, steady state simulations were evaluated with the
baseline, M2, and M3 configurations at the B100 operating
condition. The configuration without a mixer (M1) was not
simulated at the B100 condition for two reasons. First, it did
not show a performance improvement over the baseline
design when simulated at the B25 condition. Secondly,
previous work showed that the presence of the right mixer
aids in achieving the target ε values [16]. Removing the
mixer would risk lowering the ε values while gaining no
performance increase with respect to γ 25.4 mm (1″) inside
the reformer.
Table 4 shows the results of the three mixer optimization
steady state simulations carried out at the B100 operating
condition. The baseline design met the γ target of 0.97 at 1
inch inside the reformer. The metrics listed in Table 4 for
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design M2 were all higher than the same metrics for the
baseline design at this operating point, indicating that the M2
design was better suited for the higher exhaust gas mass flow
conditions present at the B100 operating point when
compared to the B25 operating point.
Table 4. γ Optimization through Mixer Design at B100
Operating Condition
The result of the mixer study showed the baseline
configuration was the better performing geometry for low
exhaust gas mass flow rate conditions (B25) and the M2
configuration was the better performing geometry for high
exhaust gas mass flow rate conditions (B100). The duty cycle
of the engine for this application was analyzed and it was
determined that the engine would operate at exhaust gas mass
flow rate conditions similar to the B25 operating point more
often than the B100 operating point. This supported the
decision to select the baseline mixer configuration for the
final design. Selecting the baseline design also minimized the
risk of missing the required ε target value because the
baseline simulation utilizing the same mixer configuration
had already been shown to be meeting the ε target. Both of
these reasons supported the decision to move forward with
the baseline mixer configuration.
The final step in the design process for the side entry design
was to run transient simulations to validate the design. Table
5 details the results of the transient simulation results
conducted at the A25, B25, B50, B100, and C50 operating
conditions. The ε target was achieved at all five operating
points, resulting in a five mode cycle average of 0.99. The γ
target 25.4 mm (1″) inside the reformer was met for the five
mode average. These γ values differ slightly from the
previously presented values from steady state simulations.
The γ values in Table 5 are an average γ over the entire
hydrocarbon injection pulse for each operating point. This
resulted in the B100 point underperforming the γ metric. The
ψ values for all the points except B100 are greater than the
target value of 2.0%, but the five mode cycle average value
for ψ is 2.1%. The side entry design achieved higher γ and ε
values than inlet cone design. The ψ value for the side entry
design was slightly lower than what was simulated with the
inlet cone design. A reduction in packaging length of 410 mm
(16″) was quantified for the side entry reformer can design
when compared to the inlet cone design.
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Table 5. Final Performance Results for Side Inlet Design
and Cone Inlet Design
COMPACT PACKAGING OPTION
The system described in the preceding section was designed
to fit the space available for the ProStar vehicle from Figure
3. The aftertreatment system was mounted below the sleeper
berth. Packaging the same catalytic volumes with optimized
exhaust flow distributions into a different class 8 vehicle with
a day cab configuration required a separate packaging study.
The inlet to the reforming catalyst needed to be redesigned to
enable this aftertreatment system to fit onto the day cab
vehicle application. The side entry reformer can design was
developed and optimized to meet the packaging objectives.
Figure 19 details a system design architecture that packages
all the necessary aftertreatment components previously
detailed into the space available on a day cab class 8 vehicle.
The reforming catalyst, thermal mass, LNT, and DPF bricks
are identical in catalyst volume to those previously described.
These four bricks and the associated exhaust pipe sections
connecting them fit underneath the vehicle. The SCR catalyst
was packaged in the vertical section of the exhaust stack. The
aspect ratio of the SCR brick was changed, resulting in a
smaller diameter, longer length brick to more closely match
the profile of the vertical exhaust stack.
Figure 19. Day cab packaging
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Figure 20 shows an alternative packing option to fit the SCR
underneath the vehicle with the other catalysts. The air tank
was relocated to position the SCR underneath the vehicle as
is common for this vehicle application. These two packaging
configurations from Figures 19 and 20 show that the
aftertreatment system can be packaged onto a class 8 day cab
configuration vehicle in multiple ways to meet the needs for
each application.
Figure 20. Day cab packaging (second option)
V. CONCLUSIONS
A diesel exhaust aftertreatment system was developed to
meet fuel mixing metrics that allowed for successful
packaging on a heavy-duty diesel engine powered vehicle.
Fuel and exhaust mixing simulations showed that uniform
fuel and exhaust flow targets were met yielding an ε value of
0.99 and an average γ of 0.96. Fuel pulse broadening targets
were also met yielding ψ values of 2.0% and 0.04%,
depending on engine operating mode. An aftertreatment
system was procured using the results of this simulation and
applied to a ProStar vehicle. The vehicle had two emissions
calibrations with which the aftertreatment system was shown
to meet EPA 2010 emission on both vehicles.
The simulation was applied to a more compact aftertreatment
system for the ProStar vehicle. Similar to the previous study,
the key fuel and exhaust flow metrics were met having an ε
of 0.99, γ of 0.97 and ψ of 2.1% for a modal average of five
engine operating conditions. The system was packaged on the
vehicle. This study was extended to a WorkStar vehicle that
required compact packaging. The simulation results from the
ProStar vehicle also apply to this WorkStar vehicle. These
results show that aftertreatment packaging requirements can
be met for both line-haul and severe service vehicles while
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meeting the required fuel vaporization and mixing targets for
the fuel reformer catalyst.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Eaton
Corporation and Eaton's customer colleagues, that helped
make this work possible. The authors would like to
acknowledge their engine partner, Navistar, especially Vadim
Strots, Jim Yan, Ed Derybowski, Jeff Kelso, Martin Keller,
Mike Miller and Brad Adelman for supporting the vehicle
packaging. The authors acknowledge the support from Eaton
teammates: Andrew Marougy for his work managing one of
the simulation programs and for supporting the vehicle test
program; Erik Dykes for program management; Tim
Korhumel, Mark Scheffer, Jim Ridge, Judy Wright and
Eaton's canning partner for the CAD design function; Scott
Magno and Eaton's canning partner for procuring the
aftertreatment system; Tom Stover, Vishal Singh and David
Yee for providing program support.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
PhilipWWetzel@Eaton.com
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