This invention relates to exhaust systems for vehicles, and in particular to such systems for agricultural and/or industrial tractors, which includes an exhaust gas treatment unit to reduce the level of gas contaminants to the legally required levels.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such an exhaust system which allows the treatment unit to be conveniently fitted within an engine compartment of the vehicle in an efficient and low cost manner which has minimum impact on the design of the remainder of the vehicle.
Thus according to the present invention there is provided an exhaust system for an agricultural or industrial engine located in an engine compartment covered by an engine hood, the system including an exhaust gas treatment unit located inside the engine compartment hood and having a main chamber fed by an inlet pipe which receives exhaust gases from the engine and an outlet pipe which passes treated gases into a final portion of the exhaust system, the inlet and outlet pipes being non-aligned and extending alongside the main chambers in opposite directions to reduce the overall length of the treatment unit.
As will be appreciated such a treatment unit is particularly compact and is suitable for positioning inside the engine hood where space is at a premium.
Such treatment unit allows tractors not previously provided with exhaust gas treatment to be readily adapted to provide such treatment.
In addition, the compact design of the treatment unit allows installation of the unit so that exhaust gas passes through the main chamber in a direction normal to the driving direction of the tractor.
The non-aligned inlet and outlet pipes which gives the compact design also allows the installation above the eingine.
The inlet pipe of the treatment unit may be provided with a urea injector and/or an exhaust gas temperature sensor to simplify installation of the unit.
The end of the main chamber of the treatment unit may be double-walled to provide heat insulation for other components under the hood.
Similarly one or both of the inlet and outlet pipes may be double-walled to provide heat insulation for other components under the hood.
The main chamber of the unit preferably includes one or more of the following components namely an oxidation catalyser, an NOx catalyser and/or a NOx, HC, NH3 absorber arranged in series.
The invention also provides an exhaust gas treatment unit for use on the above exhaust system, the unit having a main chamber fed by an inlet pipe which receives exhaust gases from the engine and an outlet pipe which passes treated gases into a final portion of the exhaust system, the inlet and outlet pipes being non-aligned and extending alongside the main chambers in opposite directions to reduce the overall length of the treatment unit.
The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings, an agricultural tractor 10 has an engine 11 mounted in an engine compartment defined by an engine hood 11a part of which is cut away in
Inlet pipe 15 and outlet pipe 17 are non-aligned and extend generally parallel to each other along the outside of the main chamber 18 of the treatment unit 16. This provides a particularly compact arrangement in which the overall length of the gas treatment unit is significantly reduced.
Inlet pipe 15 is connected with an inlet end guidance chamber 22 which directs the incoming exhaust gases in to the oxidation catalyser 19 and hence through the NOx catalyser 20 and into the NOx, HC, NH3 absorber 21. Gas leaves the treatment unit via an outlet guidance chamber 23 and hence to the outlet pipe 17.
As can be seen from
As can be seen from
The gas treatment unit carries an exhaust gas sensor 24 and a urea injecting unit 25 on the inlet pipe 15. A NOx sensor 26 is also provided on the outlet pipe 17.
A support bracket 27 is secured to the outer surface of the main chamber of the treatment unit and is used to secure the treatment unit in its operating position within the engine compartment hood.
In the above described embodiment the exhaust gases pass through the main chamber 18 generally horizontally and normal to the driving direction D. It is envisaged that he treatment unit 16 may also be installed so that the exhaust gases pass through the main chamber in a direction parallel to the direction of driving D.
It is also envisaged that the treatment unit 16 may include not all the elements mentioned above or may include other elements to reduce the level of gas contaminants to the legally required levels (e.g. a diesel particulate filter may be included). The treatment unit may also include any combination of known means to reduce the level of gas contaminants to the legally required levels.
As will be appreciated, the above described exhaust gas treatment unit is of an extremely compact construction and is therefore readily mountable inside the engine compartment under the engine hood. This compact construction allows tractors not previously provided with exhaust gas treatment units to be readily adapted for the provision of such units before or after sale.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0823113.6 | Dec 2008 | GB | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2009/066555 | 12/7/2009 | WO | 00 | 8/12/2011 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2010/069807 | 6/24/2010 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20110284308 A1 | Nov 2011 | US |