Impact of the Spray-Wall-Interaction-Model on the Prediction of the Ammonia Homogenization in Automotive SCR Systems

摘要

Nitrogen oxide emissions of diesel engine powered vehicles have to be significantly reduced in order to meet future international legislative restrictions. The Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) has meanwhile been established as a promising technology to cope with the challenging limits in the sector of mid-sized and large passenger cars. Despite its successful market launch, high optimization potentials remain for the automotive SCR system with respect to the fast preparation of the injected urea-water solution (UWS) and a sufficient ammonia homogenization at the SCR catalyst. In cooperation with BMW Motoren GmbH Steyr, the Institute for Powertrains and Automotive Technology from Vienna University of Technology implemented a CFD simulation model of the UWS preparation and mixing processes upstream of the SCR catalyst. A series type passenger car SCR system with a swirl mixing element has been investigated, to analyze the impact of the droplet-wall-interaction and liquid-film formation on the ammonia homogenization for a wide range of exhaust gas conditions. An optimized numerical description of the UWS-droplet-interaction with the hot surfaces of the exhaust system has been established and validated with engine test bed measurements of the ammonia homogenization. A remarkable correlation between a fast formation of ammonia and a high degree of uniformity at the catalyst was proven by the CFD. Especially for high exhaust temperatures an early UWS decomposition was hindered by the Leidenfrost effect, which leads to a high amount of droplets that reach the catalyst and a relatively low level of homogenization.