F071001 Advanced After Treatment Technologies for Tighter Regulations

Regulations are continuously tightening. LEV III starts in MY 2015 and Tier3 regulation starts in MY2017. Both regulations are nominally a 70-80% tightening of NMOG (non-methane organic gases) and NOx from LEV n or Tier2 levels. These are roughly 40% tighter than Euro 6. More than 75% of emissions in FTP-75 regulatory test are released in the first a few seconds after cold-start. The heat capacity of catalyst the substrate is a factor effecting catalytic light-off. Historically, substrates with thinner walls and lower heat capacity have been developed to improve cold-start performance. A new material and process technology has been developed to achieve faster light-off performance with higher porosity compared to conventional substrates. The new material enables thin walls (2-3mil) in a 55% porosity substrate to reduce heat capacity by 30-38% while maintaining adequate strength. Faster light-off performance using new substrate was demonstrated in laboratory bench and actual vehicle testing.