CFD Analysis of Catalytic Converter to Increase

Filtration Efficiency and Achieve Limited Back

Pressure
Alok P Bendale1, Mohit Sharma2, Dr. Manavalla Sreekanth3,
1,2
Student, SMBS, VIT-Chennai
3
Assistant Professor SMBS, VIT-Chennai

Abstract: An catalytic converter is a exhaust discharge
control gadget that changes over harmful gases and
contaminations in exhaust gas from an IC engine into
less dangerous toxins by catalyzing a reduction reaction.
Catalytic converters are generally utilized with IC
engine powered by either gasoline or diesel including
lean-burn engines. The efficiency of catalytic converter
depends upon the filtration efficiency and back
pressure. It is directly proportional to filtration
efficiency and inversely proportional to back pressure.
We are going to do CFD analysis of catalytic converter
so as to increase filtration efficiency, achieve limited
back pressure and in turn decrease the fuel
consumption. Models with filter materials of fine grid
size wire mesh packed inside the manifold develop more
back pressure which causes more fuel utilization
because of lower volumetric efficiency. Utilization of
bigger grid size wire mesh results in less back pressure,
however the filtration efficiency is additionally reduced
which may not be adequate to meet the most stringent
emission standards endorsed. Through CFD
investigation, a trade off between these two parameters
namely, more filtration efficiency with restricted back
pressure is aimed at.
Keywords: CFD Analysis,, Catalytic converter, back
pressure, filtration efficiency, IC engines.
[I] Introduction
Since their inception, automobiles have mostly been
powered with an internal combustion engine. The
combustion processes associated with those engines are
responsible for releasing harmful emissions including
carbon monoxide (CO), unburnt hydrocarbons (HC) and
nitrogen oxides (NOx) which have severe negative effects
on humans and the environment. This has led to the
development of emission control systems to treat exhaust
gases and convert them to less harmful products called
catalytic converters .In the thirties, automobile
manufacturers realized the need to treat the products of the
combustion process that occurred within the internal
combustion engines. The initial solution for this challenge
was the utilization of pellet catalytic converters. The pellets
were spherical particles with diameters ranging from 2.5
mm to 5 mm and made of gamma-alumina. The pellets
were enclosed in a steel shell to form the catalytic converter
and loaded with noble metals and stabilizers for exhaust
emission treatment. This catalytic converter technology had
many disadvantages. Due to the design of these pellet
catalytic converters, a large pressure drop occurred across
the converter which directly affected the performance of
the engine. Moreover, the risk of losing the catalyst was
higher due to particle wear. These disadvantages
encouraged scientists and engineers to develop monolithic
catalytic converter found in vehicles today.
[II] Literature Review
The presence of catalytic converter in exhaust system of
diesel engine increases the back pressure in engine. Due to
increase in back pressure, the fuel consumption is higher in
engine. Hence the flow phenomenon inside the catalytic
converter should be fully understood in order to consider
the current requirement of higher engine efficiency and
lower emission [6]. A CFD model has been developed
taking into consideration the thermal effects as temperature
affects fluid properties such as the density and viscosity
and is validated against both local temperature and velocity
experimental measurements. A controlled hot air
experimental setup is used to investigate the flow
distribution under steady state conditions at the desired
temperature and flow rate [10]. As temperature increases,
NOx conversion increases. Maximum NOx conversion is
0.9 at 900K. Maximum C3H6 conversion occurs is 0.9 at
900K. But there is a drastic change of conversion between
600K and 700K. Maximum CO conversion is 0.4 at 900K.
Platinum is work in oxidation as well as in reduction
process, while Rhodium is worked in Reduction process
only. That is why we get more NOx conversion than CO
conversion. Because NOx conversion is higher in
Reduction Process and CO conversion is takes place in
oxidation process only [1]. On increasing temperature the
rate of surface reaction with the catalyst first increases and
then become stable. Increasing mass flow rate the pressure
drop increases linearly. Increasing substrate length
improves the performance of converter. On increasing flow
velocity pressure drop across the substrate and converter Construction
drastically increases. At high Reynolds number due to The catalytic converter consist of
turbulence flow uniformity affects and the turbulence can
be seen across the radial region and the outlet [5]. The
filtration efficiency and back pressure are interrelated. If
maximum filtration efficiency using very fine grid size wire
meshes, is achieved, the back pressure will also be
increased, which causes more fuel consumption. On the
other hand, if larger grid size wire meshes are used, back
pressure will be less, but the filtration efficiency will also
be reduced, which does not help in meeting the present
emission norms [3]. The opencell structures honeycombs,
at high flow rates, have higher mass transfer properties by
allowing more compact reactors, better conversion
efficiency with lower surface along with better porosity
[11]. The geometry of the element is made as tetrahedral
mesh, with a refined mesh near the wall. The model has
approximately 0.799 million tetrahedron fluid elements. Air
is used as fluid media, which is assumed to be steady and
compressible [9]. The inlet cone should be optimized to
avoid reverse flow observed in close coupled catcon near to
inlet cone. Also the geometry should be optimized to
increase uniformity index.

[III] Methodology

Fig. 1 Catalytic Converter Model

Fig. 2 Top View of Catalytic Beads and Wire Mesh

Selection of Filter Material

There are numerous kinds of filter materials are utilized in

internal combustion engine. They are Ceramic monolith,
ceramic foam, steel wire meshes, ceramic silicon fiber,
porous ceramic honey comb. Out of these filter materials,
steel wire mesh is chosen as filter material in light of the
fact that knitted steel wire mesh material is positioned first
for its collection efficiency of particulate issue. Alternate
purposes behind its choice are,
 Catalyst
The flowing exhaust gas is allowed to move in every way
inside the manifold. As the movement of exhaust gas isn't
suddenly disturbed anyplace in its way, the back pressure is
constrained to least level. The porous nature of catalyst
beads additionally help the gas to flow over the bigger
surface region of the catalyst empowering better response
to occur for decreasing NOX as on account of SCR system.
1) Diesel Oxidation Catalyst
DOC is made as a flow through device that consists of
specially made catalytic beads and steel wire mesh material
which are coated with metal catalyst. As the hot gases
contact the catalyst and the coated wire mesh, most of the
exhaust pollutants such as CO, gaseous hydrocarbons,
unburnt fuel and lube oil, toxic aldehydes etc. are oxidized
to CO2 and water, thus reducing harmful emissions. DOC
does not collect or burn the soot particles in diesel exhaust.
But it is accomplished by oxidizing the soluble organic
fraction of diesel PM.DOC can also produce sulphate
particles by oxidizing the SO2 present in the exhaust gas
and thus increases the PM emission.
2) SCR Catalyst System
Presently, ammonia derived from urea is used to reduce
NOX from diesel engines. This is achieved by allowing the
ammonia plus exhaust gas to flow over the platinum coated
ceramic substrates, and it has been proved as highly
effective in reducing NOX in heavy duty applications [2].
Ammonia is produced on-board by rapid hydrolysis of
nonhazardous form of urea solution. The problem with this
is, cost of on-board production of ammonia, cost of
additional on-board air supply equipments, and high cost of
rare metals like platinum etc. In this paper, rare earth metal
catalyst is replaced by a specially prepared catalyst. This
catalyst selectively reacts with NO and NO2 species and
effectively reduces them to form nitrogen and oxygen using
SCR technology.
Filter Material
Ceramic monolith, ceramic foam, steel wire meshes,
ceramic silicon fiber, porous ceramic honey comb are the
few types of filter materials reported in the literature. Out
of these filter materials, steel wire mesh is selected as trap
material because knitted steel wire mesh material is ranked
first [4] for its collection efficiency of PM. The other
reasons for its selection are,
a. Thermal stability during regeneration
b. Good mechanical properties
c. Long durability
d. Easy availability and less cost
e. Wire mesh Specifications
Table 1. Wire Mesh Specification
Wire Mesh Size 1.61mm 1.01mm
Wire Diameter 1.01mm 0.41mm
Wire dia: 0.51mm Wire dia: 0.41mm
Grid size: 1.61mm Grid size: 1.01mm
Fig. 3 Wire Mesh
[IV] Physical Model
To meet the less ground clearance available in the
present vehicles, the height of the manifold is
restricted to 110 mm. The cross section is made as
rectangular of size 176 x 110 mm. In CFD, the system
consumes less memory space and less response time,
if the rectangular cross section is assumed. However,
in actual practice, the rectangular corners are suitably
rounded off which ensures the smooth flow of exhaust
gas with less turbulence near the wall sides.
1) Construction
The exhaust manifold designed for this study
comprises two compartments. The first one is meant
for filtration and DOC catalyst. The second
compartment is meant for filtration and SCR system.
The upstream of the first compartment is filled with
steel wire meshes for about one-fourth of its length.
These wire meshes are placed vertically with their
surface being parallel to the flow of gas. Sufficient
gaps are provided amongst the bunch of wire meshes
which make the gas to flow crosswise also for better
filtration and reduce back pressure. The downstream
of first compartment is filled with catalyst beads and
steel wire meshes arranged in alternate layers. The
beads are arranged horizontally in a single layer so
that the gas can enter at one end of the bead and come
out in the opposite end. During its travel, the gas
follows the up and down movement and meets the
entire inner surface area of the catalyst. There are
1320 catalytic beads of size 16x16x16 mm placed in
each compartment. More contact surface area of the
catalytic beads enables the better catalytic reaction to
take place between the catalyst and the flowing
exhaust gas. The beads are designed so that the top
and bottom portions are open and the gas can go up
and down to the next layer of beads through the steel
wire mesh layers which are also horizontally placed.
2) Working Principle
In the first compartment the exhaust gas goes through
catalytic beads and steel wire mesh material which are
covered with metal catalyst. As the hot gases contact
the catalyst and the covered wire mesh, a large portion
of the exhaust toxins, for example, CO, gaseous
hydrocarbons, and unburnt fuel and lube oil,
poisonous aldehydes and so on are oxidized to CO2
and water, consequently diminishing harmful
emissions. In the second compartment ammonia in
addition to exhaust gas is gone through catalytic beads
and steel wire mesh material which are covered with
metal catalyst. Ammonia got from urea is utilized to
decrease NOx from diesel engines. Ammonia is
created on-board by quick hydrolysis of non-
hazardous type of urea solution. In second
compartment the NOx are converted into nitrogen and
oxygen. In the two compartments a part of the exhaust
gas goes through the wire mesh layers which trap a
part of the soot. The rest of the exhaust gas streams
out to the neighboring bead set in a similar line-similar
to flow through substrate. The residue caught in the
wire mesh material is burnt by the NO2 that is created
by the upstream catalyst and consequently the filter is
regenerated ceaselessly. On the off chance that a
circumstance happens where filter regeneration is
halted and a saturation point happened with the
gathered residue, the wire meshes set over the
catalytic beads won't connect as happened in the wall
flow filter. As the way of the gas isn't completely
blocked, the back pressure created inside the catalytic
converter is especially constrained and no further
increment in back pressure can occur past certain
limit, regardless of the residue stacking over some
stretch of time. A compressed air cleaning process is
recommended to clean the particulate matter
deposition on steel wire networks and catalytic beads.
In this procedure, two numbers of compressed air inlet
points are put in the middle of two compartments at
diametrically opposite position.
3) Grid Generation
The geometrical model of exhaust system is meshed in
ANSYS Fluent fluid flow. The total geometry is
exceptionally huge on account of the modelling of the
catalyst bead surfaces. In this way, just a quarter
section across a vertical plane slicing through the
geometry will be modeled. This is required to reduce
the complete cell check and subsequently the
computational effort.
Computatioal Meshed Model
4) Material
Nitrogen will be the working fluid considered to be
operating at 3500 C and 1.35 bar.
5) Boundary Conditions
Boundary conditions are a set of properties or
conditions on surfaces of domains, and are required to
fully define the flow simulation. The types of
boundary condition used are:
• Inlet
• Outlet
• Wall
INLET: An inlet boundary condition is used where the
flow is predominantly directed into the domain. The
inlet boundary condition is velocity inlet. Inlet
velocity will be maintained at a slightly higher
value of 0.3 m/s. Fluid used – for simplicity of
analysis a single gas entity is considered having
nitrogen ideal gas.
Turbulence – A high turbulence intensity of 10% will
be flow will be assumed for the inlet while the
hydraulic diameter at the inlet will be considered to
close the turbulence model equations.
OUTLET: An outlet boundary condition is used where
the flow is predominantly directed out of the domain.
The outlet will be considered as a pressure outlet at
zero gauge pressure.
WALL: Walls are solid (impermeable) boundaries to
fluid flow. A zero velocity, no slip condition would be
applied to all walls.
Table 2. Wall Boundary Conditions
LOCATION TYPE
Catalyst Bead Compartment Wall
Surfaces filter side compartment Wall
Top compartment Wall
6) Governing Equation
For flow calculations the differential conservation
equations are integrated over a given control volume.
 Continuity equation
 Momentum equation
 The Turbulence model used in this project work is k-ε
RNG turbulence model. It is appropriate to account for
high velocities and strong streamline curvature in the
flow domain. The differential transport equation for
the turbulence kinetic energy and turbulence
dissipation are given below.

 Turbulence Kinetic Energy

 Turbulence Dissipation
Fig.4 Stream Lines

Linearization: Implicit v/s Explicit

In both the segregated and coupled solution methods the

discrete, non-linear government equations are linearized to
deliver a system of equations for the dependent factors in
each computational cell. The resultant linear system is then
solved to yield an updated stream field solution. The way in
which the governing equations are linearized may take a
"explicit" or "implicit" from concerning the dependent
variable of interest. By implicit or explicit we implied the
following:

Implicit: For a given variable, the unknown value in each Fig.5 Vector Plot
cell is computed using a relation that includes both existing
and unknown values form neighboring cells. Therefore
each unknown will appear in more than one equation in the
system, and these equations must be solved simultaneously
to give the unknown quantities.

Explicit: For a given variable, the unknown value in each

cell is computed using a relation that includes only existing
values. Therefore each unknown will appear in only one
equation in the system and the equations for the unknown
value in each cell can be solved one at a time to give the
unknown quantities.

[V] Experimental Results

The essential point of this CFD examination is to limit back

pressure with maximum filtration efficiency of PM,
utilizing new catalyst for NOX reduction. At present, the
wall flow ceramic substrate is utilized as filters which are
expensive and furthermore offer increasingly back pressure
resulting more fuel utilization. In the present study, steel
wire networks, one with platinum coating, with fine mesh
size are utilized as filter materials.
Fig.6 Pressure Contour
[VI] Conclusion
The stream lines shown in the fig.4 implies that the
maximum or almost all the amount of gas flowing through
catalytic converter passes through the beads. Thus, it is
expected that the rate of reaction will increase and
subsequently increases the filtration efficiency.

The pressure contour shown in fig.5 implies that the

pressure is 267 Pa to 510 Pa from inlet to the catalytic bead
compartment. After leaving the catalytic compartment, due
to the backflow occurring before outlet, the pressure
increases up to 700Pa but at outlet (exit) it reduces up to Converters”, FFHMT, Paper No. 135, August 2017,
200Pa. Thus the 67 Pa pressure drop has been achieved. 135.1-135.7

The total mass converted can be calculated using FVM
(finite volume method) and the actual mass converted can
be find out and validated against the previous results of
copper urea catalyst converter to check if the conversion
efficiency has been increased or not.
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