Pass-through Catalytic Substrate with Beveled Ceramic Corners
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Pass-through catalytic substrates for internal combustion engines take a significant amount of time to reach the light-off temperature, allowing excessive pollution to escape during engine start-up due to the slow heating of catalysts.
Innovation Solution
A pass-through catalytic substrate with porous ceramic beveled corner portions and a catalytic washcoat layer, where the beveled corner portions have a heat capacity less than 1.38 J/cm3/K, is designed to accelerate the heating process by reducing the total heat capacity and washcoat material, allowing quicker light-off.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a conventional pass-through catalytic substrate is used, then the catalyst can process pollutants effectively, but it takes a significant amount of time to reach the light-off temperature during engine start-up
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the substrate by incorporating porous ceramic beveled corner portions with specific heat capacity characteristics (less than 1.38 J/cm³/K). This parameter modification allows the substrate to heat up faster during engine start-up, reducing the time to reach light-off temperature while maintaining effective pollutant processing capability once operational.
2Loss of time
If the substrate is designed to heat up quickly, then the time to reach light-off temperature is reduced, but the total heat capacity and washcoat material are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by placing porous ceramic beveled corner portions at specific locations (intersecting corners of substrate walls) rather than uniformly throughout the entire substrate. This localized modification reduces heat capacity in critical areas where it most impacts heating speed, while maintaining sufficient washcoat material in other regions to ensure effective pollutant processing.
3Loss of time
If porous ceramic beveled corner portions are added to reduce heat capacity, then the substrate heats up faster, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the substrate into distinct functional regions by incorporating separate porous ceramic beveled corner portions at the intersecting corners of the substrate walls. This segmentation allows the corner portions to serve the specific function of reducing heat capacity and accelerating heating, while the rest of the substrate maintains its structural integrity and catalytic functionality without requiring complete redesign.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The substrate heats up faster, reducing the time to reach the light-off temperature and lowering material costs, while maintaining effective pollutant conversion.
Implementation Method 1
the porous ceramic beveled corner portions each have a heat capacity less than about 1.38 J/cm3/K
Implementation Method 2
pollutants like unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitric and nitrous oxides react on catalysts in the washcoatings to form innocuous species
Implementation Method 3
the porous ceramic beveled corner portions each have a heat capacity less than about 1.38 J/cm3/K
Data Source
AI summary
A pass-through catalytic substrate can comprise a plurality of porous ceramic substrate walls defining flow channels extending between an inlet end and an outlet end of the catalytic substrate. The pass-through catalytic substrate can include a plurality of porous ceramic beveled corner portions positioned at intersecting corners of the substrate walls within the flow channels. In one example, the porous ceramic beveled corner portions each include a heat capacity less than about 1.38 J/cm3/K. In another example, a catalytic washcoat layer can be provided for coating the porous ceramic substrate walls and the porous ceramic beveled corner portions. Methods for producing a pass-through catalytic substrate also provide porous ceramic beveled corner portions.