• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.87-100
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• 2000

HC and CO emissions during the cold start contribute the majority of the total emissions in the legislated driving cycles. Therefore, in order to minimize the cold-start emissions, the fast light-off techniques have been developed and presented in the literature. One of the most encouraging strategies for reducing start-up emissions is to place the light-off catalyst, in addition to the main under-body catalyst, near the engine exhaust manifold. This study numerically consider three-dimensional, unsteady compressible reacting flow in the light-off and under body catalyst to examine the impact of a light-off catalyst on thermal response of the under body catalyst and tail pipe emission. The effect of flow distribution on the temperature distribution and emission performance have also been examined. The present results show that flow distribution has a great influence on the temperature distribution in the monolith at the early stage of warm-up process and the ultimate conversion efficiency of light-off catalyst is severly deteriorated when the space velocity is above $100,000hr^{-1}$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1264-1276
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• 2000

Light-off catalyst has been used for minimization of cold-start emissions. Improved cold-start performance of light-off catalyst needs the optimal design in terms of flow distribution, geometric surface area, precious metal loading, cell density and space velocity. In this study, these influential factors are numerically investigated using integrated numerical technique by considering not only 3-D fluid flow but also heat and mass transfer with chemical reactions. The present results indicate that uneven catalyst loading of depositing high active catalyst at upstream of monolith is beneficial during warm-up period but its effect is severely deteriorated when the space velocity is above 100,000 $hr^{-1}$ To maximize light-off performance, this study suggests that 1) a light-off catalyst be designed double substrate type; 2) the substrate with high GSA and high PM loading at face be placed at the front monolith; and 3) the cell density of the rear monolith be lower to reduce the pressure drop.