An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Washcoat Composition on Gasoline Particulate Filter (GPF) Performance

Abstract

The forthcoming implementation of the China VI emission regulations, which are currently the most stringent around the world targeted at light-duty gasoline engine vehicles, will not only further restrict the emissions of gaseous pollutants, but also put forward, for the first time, the requirements of particulate number (PN) emissions with a limit set at 6 × 1011#/km. To achieve the stringent emission targets, the ceramic wall-flow gasoline particulate filter (GPF) will be effective to achieve the reduction of the particulate number tailpipe emissions in a way similar to the widely applied diesel particulate filter (DPF) in diesel engines. This paper investigated the effect of a coated gasoline particulate filter (GPF) on the PN emission and engine performance. The effects of two factors, including the washcoat powder material bulk density and type of coating, were studied with regard to three primary performances of GPF, including high three-way catalytic performance, low pressure drop, and high PN filtration efficiency, according to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) requirements. The outcomes show that the use of high bulk density materials resulted in a low washcoat volume and hence a decrease of flow resistance and backpressure, in addition to high PN filtration efficiency. The type of coating had notable influence on the backpressure and PN filtration efficiency. The coating length and coating amount both had notable influence on the backpressure and PN filtration efficiency.