Heat-Up Performance of Catalyst Carriers—A Study of Urban Drive Cycles

This study investigates the geometric parameters of commercially available or recently published models of catalyst substrates for passenger vehicles and provides a numerical evaluation of their influence on thermal behavior for use in urban areas. To ensure the plausibility of the results, a range of scenarios have been meticulously designed to replicate real operational conditions. To ensure a reliable basis for comparison, all geometries were standardized to the same gas-solid exchange surface by adapt the total monolith length. The simulation experiments conducted revealed that the primary role in question is played by the mass of the monolith and its internal surface area, while the heat transfer coefficient plays a secondary role. The necessity of adapting the geometry to the deployment scenario was demonstrated by comparing the performance of different scenarios. The employment of contemporary technologies, such as start-stop systems and automatic catalytic converter preconditioning, has also been factored. The study's findings suggest that geometries characterized by high cell density and low wall thickness, in conjunction with modern materials and intelligent engine control, are ready to become the norm for future ICE applications. This claim is particularly salient in the context of the requirements of mobile exhaust gas purification systems.