Thermal Decomposition of a Single AdBlue® Droplet Including Wall–Film Formation in Turbulent Cross-Flow in an SCR System

Abstract

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) methodology is notably recognized as the widely applied strategy for NOX control in exhaust after-treatment technologies. In real SCR systems, complex unsteady turbulent multi-phase flow phenomena including poly-dispersed AdBlue® spray evolve with a wide ranging relative velocity between the droplet phase and carrier gas phase. This results from an AdBlue® spray that is injected into a mixing pipe which is cross-flowing by a hot exhaust gas. To reduce the complexity while gaining early information on the injected droplet size and velocity needed for a minimum deposition and optimal conversion, a single droplet with a specified diameter is addressed to mimic a spray featuring the same Sauter Mean Diameter. For that purpose, effects of turbulent hot cross-flow on thermal decomposition processes of a single AdBlue® droplet are numerically investigated. Thereby, a single AdBlue® droplet is injected into a hot cross-flowing stream within a mixing pipe in which it may experience phase change processes including interaction with the pipe wall along with liquid wall–film and possible solid deposit formation. First of all, the prediction capability of the multi-component evaporation model and thermal decomposition is evaluated against the detailed simulation results for standing droplet case for which experimental data is not available. Next, exploiting Large Eddy Simulation features the effect of hot turbulent co- and cross-flowing streams on the dynamic droplet characteristics and on the droplet/wall interaction is analyzed for various droplet diameters and operating conditions. This impact is highlighted in terms of droplet evaporation time, decomposition efficiency, droplet trajectories and wall–film formation. It turns out that smaller AdBlue® droplet diameter, higher gas temperature and relative velocity lead to shorter droplet life time as the droplet evaporates faster. Under such conditions, possible droplet/wall interaction processes on the pipe wall or at the entrance front of the monolith may be avoided. Since the ammonia (NH3) gas generated by urea decomposition is intended to reduce NOX emission in the SCR system, it is apparent for the prediction of high NOX removal performance that UWS injector system which allows to realize such operating conditions is favorable to support high conversion efficiency of urea into NH3.