Lowering the Fuel Requirement During Active Regeneration of Soot

The control of exhaust emissions from vehicles with internal combustion engines is of vital importance. In particular, the emissions of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides and particulates have to be controlled, and ideally eliminated totally. Catalysis has a critical role in controlling vehicle emissions, and currently catalytic technology is employed on gasoline and diesel fuelled vehicles. Although the catalysts employed are efficient the permitted emission levels of pollutants are continually being reviewed, and ever stricter emission targets are regularly introduced. In order to meet these targets improvements in engine combustion technology are important, however, in parallel improvements in catalyst performance are also required.

This project is in collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover, and it will focus on understanding removal of soot particulates from vehicle exhaust streams. Current technology does not use a catalyst to control particulate emissions, and there are potential advantages of introducing a catalyst to oxidise soot particulates. The introduction of a catalyst has the potential to reduce particulate emissions and also reduce fuel consumption in the drive cycle. For effective deployment, robust and active catalysts need to be identified and their fundamental mode of operation needs to be understood, so that more efficient catalysts can be developed with scientific rationale.