• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.77-82
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• 2003

A parametric study was conducted on pressure drop in a catalytic converter for automobile. In this work, we proposed a new pressure drop relation which contains the various parameters needed to calculate and got a few results. In a monolith of catalyst, the flow originally turbulent flow changes to laminar flow and thus the pressure drop through the monolith is linearly proportional to the velocity. The exhaust pressure is doubly affected by the increase of mean velocity and length when we decrease the diameter of monolith while the volume keeps constant. Theoretical parameters such as $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are suggested to use as a reference value when there is no a experimental data. Especially in the part load test, these values should be modified to consider the property change of exhaust gas.

• 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.