Numerical Study on Catalytic Reaction and Catalytic Mechanism of Ceramic Catalytic Turbine Technology under Variable Operating Conditions during Vehicle Warm-up

In this paper, numerical simulation methods are adopted to explore the influencing factors of a Ceramic Catalytic Turbine (CCT) for reduced exhaust pollution from vehicles during the warm-up stage. Also, an analysis is conducted regarding the potential effects of turbulence on the catalytic reaction mechanism and the sensitivity of relevant parameters to the Arrhenius equation. It is found out that the air-fuel ratio inside the engine has a considerable effect on the reactions of CCT, with the conversion efficiency of each emission species sharply reduced under fuel-rich conditions. At 600K, the conversion efficiency declines by 11.3% for C3H6, 12.26% for CO, and 3.64% for NO. At 700K, the conversion efficiency is reduced by 6.7% for C3H6, 11.56% for CO, and 6.44% for NO. Despite increasing the concentration of reaction gas components, a high flow rate makes little difference to the reaction itself. At the same rotational speed of the turbine, the conversion rate of harmful components drops with an increase in flow rate due to the increase in space velocity. When the flow rate is constant and the temperature is kept in the control zone of chemical kinetics, the conversion efficiency of the catalytic reaction is enhanced at a higher rotational speed. Differently, when the temperature is in the control zone of mass transport and the flow rate is constant, the conversion efficiency decreases as the turbine accelerates. In practical terms, reducing activation energy within a controllable range is equivalent to further reducing the light-off temperature of the catalyst. Meanwhile, this may disrupt the convergence of numerical calculations because the catalytic reactions could occur at around the light-off temperature.