Optimisation of After-treatment Systems for Improved Tailpipe Emissions

The impact of vehicle emissions on air quality is driving the automotive industry to seek new solutions for reduced tailpipe emissions whilst maintaining fuel economy. The industry is at a key juncture in the evolution of new solutions for reduced tailpipe emissions and, in particular, in the motorcycle industry, where emissions legislation is starting to have some impact. Until recently, motorcycle companies could readily meet emissions targets (Euro 4) by fitting a simple catalyst system and calibrating the fuelling to suit catalyst operation. The Euro 5 limits to be introduced in 2020 and 2021 require much more precise specification to ensure compliance with legislation whilst still achieving an affordable cost.

Our proposed research project will seek to develop an entirely new process for the design and specification of after-treatment systems for motorcycles, using a mix of the simulation and testing tools available within CATAGEN. The innovative process will take drive cycle data and calculate the CATAGEN proprietary ageing metrics for the proposed after-treatment over the life of the motorcycle. The CATAGEN after-treatment model will be used to determine the catalyst activity required to meet emission limits at the end of the useful motorcycle life. This activity level will then be used in conjunction with the ageing metric to specify the catalyst for the new component at the start of vehicle life.

However, the challenges in achieving these goals are substantial. For the virtual development of engines and emission systems, real, accurate, and repeatable measurements will be needed with high levels of precision to develop the required software and algorithms capable of predicting the varying response and performance of an engine in real life. Up to this point, this has been seen as an unobtainable need in the industry, but with further development and modification of the CATAGEN technology, this data will be produced to the high levels essential to create an accurate model.

As this process can then be further evolved to apply to other vehicle applications and other combustion engine applications, it is an extremely important research project with far reaching potential to improve emissions and resultant air quality.

Improved air quality has far reaching benefits for everyone in society and is currently the focus of many Government policies and strategies, both in the UK and beyond. The link between cleaner air and improved health, particularly in cities, is well documented.

This work is particularly relevant in the developing countries of the world, where motorcycles are in wide use and have a major contribution to poor air-quality. Low-cost small motorcycles are popular as more expensive forms of personal transportation is not affordable. This project will assist in the development of lower-cost, more-effective after-treatment systems for motorcycles for improved air quality. For example, India has major air-quality issues in cities such as Delhi and needs affordable, effective solutions urgently but this applies across the world in areas from China to Africa to South America where low-cost small motorcycles are widely used and are major sources of exhaust emissions.

Ultimately, this project has the potential to be a major contributor to the target of improving global air quality.

The potential direct and indirect beneficiaries of this proposed research are wide ranging and include the following:

1. Motorcycle OEMs;
2. CATAGEN;
3. General public;
4. Policy makers within government - local (including city councils), national and international; and
5. Academia.

Motorcycle manufacturers will benefit from a potentially greatly enhanced emissions testing model that will lead to new motorcycle designs that not only comply and surpass new legislative requirements for emissions but that are also not over engineered and are therefore more cost effective to produce. We intend to work with the motorcycle manufacturers on vehicle development cycles, possibly by giving the tool to the vehicle developers, through the provision of a black box of mathematics through a licensed software arrangement. Emission drive cycles data could then be uploaded to a cloud-based service that could be used to collaborate and develop the best outcome. Ultimately, the more data that we can obtain from manufacturers, in conjunction with testing on CATAGEN reactors the more accurate we can make the algorithms. We expect this benefit to be realised within the four-year period of the Fellowship.

The potential benefit for CATAGEN will be a potentially new revenue generation stream for the business that will lessen our overall risk profile through a more diversified business model and resultant customer base, such increased revenues to commence in the final year of the research project.

Ultimately, the project has the potential to benefit the wider public on an international level through greatly reduced emissions and therefore cleaner air and an improvement in the nation's health. The immediate impact of this project will be felt in cities and countries with a high population of motorcycles (such as in India) but the longer-term benefits (beyond the four year period of the research project) could be felt by the general public in any city as the research has the capability of being extended into other areas beyond motorcycles, thus improving the general health of the public, particularly for more vulnerable groups such as asthma sufferers and those with chronic respiratory conditions.

This project has the potential to be a real game changer as a potential solution in delivering the Government's ambitious emissions improvement targets. At a local level, many city councils have published cleaner air policies and ambitious targets to improve air quality in and around cities. On an international level, and particularly in cities with high usage of motorcycles, the benefits are huge if motorcycle manufacturers can make significantly cleaner motorcycles with significantly lower emissions. Technical papers will be produced on the research and used to inform Government by the end of the final year of the project. Ultimately, cleaner air will benefit the NHS through lower incidence of respiratory conditions requiring possible hospitalisation and/or expensive medication, thereby relieving some stress on already stretched health service budgets.

Given the collaboration between CATAGEN and Queen's University, Belfast to date, it is intended through the development of Dr Stewart in the proposed project, to further collaborate with the University and other academic institutions (if necessary) as the project progresses. CATAGEN, having been born from academia, has developed and uses a strategy for publication that promotes openness whilst at the same time protecting the company's defendable IP and thus market position. Our strategy is to regularly publish articles on technical capability and performance whilst anonymising any sensitive data or methods that could be reverse engineered by a competitor. This same strategy will be employed for outputs of this project, such publications to be through industry relevant publications and social media channels such as LinkedIn.