Distribution characteristics of exhaust gases and soot particles in a wall-flow ceramics filter

An inhomogeneous soot distribution in a diesel particulate filter may deteriorate its behavior and result in higher pressure drops and fuel consumption. This will cause mechanical stresses on the filter due to temperature gradients resulting from the non-uniformly burning of soot during regeneration. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the flow distribution of the exhaust gas entering into a diesel particulate filter, the turbulent motion of diesel soot particles in the inlet header, and their deposition and distribution in the front surface of a diesel particulate filter. A Lagranian continuous random walk (CRW) model is developed to simulate soot particulate motion, which considers a succession of uncorrelated random forcing and drift corrections. The effects of particle inertia, turbulent fluctuation, and lift on the particle motion and trajectory are analyzed. Correlations of the uniformity index of the exhaust gas and soot particles with the flow rate, soot loading, and inlet expansion angle are evaluated. The results show that there is a two-peak phenomenon in the soot distribution at the front entrance of the filter, which is comprised of a peak in the central area due to inertia and a second peak in the periphery owing to diffusion and recirculation action. Exhaust flow rates and the inlet expansion angle have a major influence on the flow uniformity and soot uniformity, while soot loading has a slightly smaller effect on soot uniformity. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.