Meeting future greenhouse gas emissions targets in transportation may require transition in part to renewable low carbon fuels to power the medium and heavy-duty sector. Currently market renewable low carbon diesel fuels are available and integrated with the fueling infrastructure in select areas. Though this is encouraging, little is known on the impact these renewable diesel fuels may have on modern aftertreatment systems and their ability to convert toxic emissions.<br/><br/>This work explores the impact of a renewable hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) diesel fuel on catalyst light-off and light-down of a modern diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) over ramp rates reflective of real-world operation. Hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions were investigated through the use of various instruments for analyzing exhaust emissions (Flame Ionization Detector (FID), Non-dispersive Infrared (NDIR), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)) placed before and after the model γ-Al2O3 DOC used in this study.  The results of this study conclude that HC and CO conversion during catalyst light-off and light-down are significantly impacted by the fuel properties unique to the mostly paraffinic renewable HVO diesel with light-off and light-down of the catalyst being improved for the renewable diesel fuel with respect to a certification diesel fuel. Interestingly, ramp rate was shown to also have an impact on catalyst light-off and light-down performance.  As ramp rate was increased, the renewable diesel was even more effective at improving catalyst performance at oxidizing HC and CO emissions during light-off and light-down events with respect to the conventional diesel fuel. This is important as real-world vehicle operation and catalyst light-off and light-down often occurs with ramp rates even faster than those explored in this work.

Impact of a commercially available low carbon renewable diesel fuel on the light-off and light-down characteristics of a diesel oxidation catalyst

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.