Patent Application
20170122156
The disclosure relates generally to methods of cleaning internal combustion engine components, and more particularly to methods of removing particulate accumulated on diesel particulate filters.
Fuel combustion in an internal combustion engine system generally emits a complex mixture of chemical species in its exhaust streams. The emissions from these engines may include organic and inorganic particulate matter such as soot, sulfates, soluble organic fraction, and ash. To reduce the levels of these chemical species in an engine's emissions, combustion engine systems incorporate aftertreatment systems. A diesel particulate filter (DPF) represents one component of an aftertreatment system for removing and/or reducing the diesel particulate matter from an exhaust stream. The DPF may be used to trap these particulate matters generated from combustion, thereby limiting the amount of soot and other particulate matter that is emitted into the environment.
A typical DPF may include a porous or permeable substrate, which may be coated with various chemical compounds that alter a composition of exhaust contents. The porous substrate of the filter physically traps carbon particles or soot as the exhaust stream passes over and/or through the DPF. With time, the particulate matter begins to accumulate in the DPF. This accumulation may inhibit air flow from the engine through the exhaust stream, which may ultimately harm engine efficiency.
Typically, a diesel particulate filter must be periodically regenerated in order to reduce back pressure on the engine and/or to prevent a runaway exothermic soot oxidation reaction in a soot load trapped in the filter. Reducing back pressure on the engine is generally associated with more efficient operation, and hence an incremental reduction in fuel consumption by the engine. A runaway exothermic oxidation reaction is generally undesirable since temperatures can become briefly so high that the filter substrate (e.g., zeolite) may become cracked or otherwise damaged to the point that the filter may be compromised. Active regeneration of a diesel particulate filter refers to a process by which the accumulated soot in the diesel particulate filter is oxidized by increasing the temperature at the filter in order to encourage soot oxidation. The active regeneration process is sometimes carried out with fuel injected into an aftertreatment system upstream from the diesel particulate filter, by the use of electrical heaters or the like.
Unlike soot, the ash particulate is generally not susceptible to typical filter regeneration processes, as the ash is non-combustible. Often the ash particulate includes metallic elements and inorganic compounds originating from additives present in the lubricating engine oil. Particles of metal oxides are formed as a result of the combustion initiated oxidation of the metallic elements and inorganic compounds during normal engine operation. These particles may then travel through the engine system into the aftertreatment system where they can collect on, and obstruct, the diesel particulate filter. Conventionally, this ash layer is considered troublesome in that the ash blocks the filter, causing increased back pressure to the engine thereby increasing fuel consumption and decreasing power.
Conventional cleaning methods for removing this remaining particulate accumulation can employ a pressurized air stream, or a pneumatic air knife as presented in U.S. Pat. No. 8,568,536. However, this particular approach may be less satisfactory because the accumulated particulate may not be sufficiently displaced by the pressurized air. Accordingly, the disclosure provides a method of effectively displacing particulate from a diesel particulate filter where the particulate has not been removed by conventional cleaning methods. The methods of the present disclosure utilize a blocking agent at the filter to generate sufficient force for a fluid to sufficiently displace particulate that was unmoved by conventional cleaning methods.
The disclosure is directed to a method for removing particulate matter from a diesel particulate filter (DPF) of an internal combustion engine. In one aspect, a method of removing particulate matter from a DPF may include disposing a blocking agent adjacent a first portion of a filter medium of the diesel particulate filter, directing a stream of pressurized fluid from a second axial end of the diesel particulate filter at an outlet side of the filter medium through a second portion of the filter medium to which the blocking agent has not been applied, and removing the blocking agent.
In a further aspect, a method of removing particulate matter from a DPF may include blocking fluid passage through a filter medium from an outlet side to an inlet side of the filter medium with a block, directing a stream of pressurized fluid through portions of the filter medium at which the fluid passage has not been blocked, and removing the block of the fluid passage.
In a yet further aspect, the disclosure relates to a filter system comprising: a diesel particulate filter with a filter medium, and a blocking agent disposed adjacent portions of filter medium of the diesel particulate filter, wherein the diesel particulate filter is configured for removal of particulate within a filter medium of the diesel particulate filter.
This disclosure relates to a system and method of removing particulate that has accumulated in a DPF by using a blocking agent. According to various aspects of the methods disclosed herein, a blocking agent may be selectively applied at a filter medium of the DPF. DPF particulate removal procedures employing a pneumatic air knife may be used to displace the particulate. As such, the blocking agent may block the air flow of the air knife and thus redirect and focus the air flow to the areas of the DPF filter wall that have not been blocked. After particulate displacement, the blocking agent may be removed.
As shown in
From the DOC 116, the engine exhaust stream 102 may travel through the DPF 118 for particulate filtering to the intermediate tubing 114 for passage to the second housing 112 of the aftertreatment system 100. A reductant (e.g., urea, diesel exhaust fluid, or the like) supply 108 may be in fluid communication with the housings 110, 112 of the aftertreatment system 100 at the intermediate tubing 114. The reductant supply 108 may deliver a desired reductant into the engine exhaust stream 102 upstream from the DPF 118 as the engine exhaust stream 102 passes through to the second housing 112 including the SCR catalyst 120 and AMOX catalyst 122. Generally, the SCR catalyst 120 may chemically reduce nitrous oxides in the engine exhaust stream 102 to elemental nitrogen, while the AMOX catalyst 122 may be configured to reduce amounts of unreacted ammonia as the engine exhaust stream 102 departs the aftertreatment system 100 via the system outlet 106.
Referring to
The filter body 124 may include a filter wall 240 disposed adjacent the filter medium 134. As used herein, adjacent the filter wall 240 may mean that that the filter wall 240 is abutting or spaced from the filter medium 134, or is defined by at least a portion of the filter medium 134. Further, adjacent may even include an intervening retainer or other element disposed between the filter medium 134 and the filter wall 240. In one configuration, the filter wall 240 may include or may be formed from the filter medium 134. The filter wall 240 may have an outlet side 244 oriented towards the filter outlet 132. In a further configuration, a structure independent from the filter medium 134 may form the filter wall 240. The structure defining the filter wall 240 may include a retainer or other element. The retainer or other element may be disposed adjacent an end of the filter medium 134. In some aspects, the filter wall 240 may have an inlet side 242 oriented towards the filter medium 134 and an outlet side 244 oriented towards the filter outlet 132.
In a further aspect, the filter body 124 may house a filter medium 134 configured to separate particulate matter from the engine exhaust stream 102. The filter medium 134 may include a porous substrate 246 to facilitate this separation by collecting the particulate matter from the engine exhaust stream 102. In an example, the porous substrate 246 may be ceramic. In a further example, the filter medium 134 of the DPF 118 may be of any suitable construction, such as a zeolite wall flow porous substrate 246 of a type well known in the art. Other porous substrates 246 may include, but are not limited to, vanadia or titania. In certain aspects of the present disclosure, the porous substrate 246 may include tubular elements sized to collect particulate. In one example, the filter medium 134 may include a collection of filter elements arranged in bundles. Each filter element may have an essentially tubular shape and polygonal cross section, such as for example, a hexagonal or octagonal cross-section. These filter elements are typically grouped together into a larger, cylindrically-shaped filter medium 134, for example, having a beehive cross-sectional shape. The filter elements may provide a relatively large surface area onto which particulate matter such as soot and ash can collect.
In a yet further aspect, as shown in
In one aspect of the present disclosure the DPF 118 filters particulate present in the engine exhaust stream 102 flowing through the DPF 118. With the filtering process, particulate 352 may collect in the filter medium 334. That is, during normal operation of an internal combustion engine, the engine exhaust stream 102 may flow into an inlet channel 351 of the filter medium 334. The non-permeable wall 349 of the inlet channel 351 may force the engine exhaust stream 102 to flow through the permeable channel wall 350 of the filter medium 334 and into an adjacent outlet channel 353. The motion of the engine exhaust stream 102 traveling through the permeable channel wall 350 generates the filtering mechanism which may separate any particulate 352 from the engine exhaust stream 102. As such, particulate 352 may collect within the inlet channel 351 building up towards the non-permeable wall 349, while the engine exhaust stream flows into the outlet channel 353 towards the filter outlet 132.
As noted herein and with reference to
As shown in
An exemplary aspect of a method for removing particulate 552 buildup of a DPF 518 is exemplified in the illustration of a partial cross section of a DPF 518 in
In various aspects, the blocking agent 556 may be selected so as to effectively obstruct fluid passage through the filter medium 534. Thus, an exemplary blocking agent 556 according to the methods disclosed herein may include materials that cannot readily flow through the permeable channel walls 550 of the filter medium 534 of the DPF 518. These materials may be unable to permeate the filter medium 534 owing to inherent characteristics of the material. For example, the materials may not readily flow through the filter medium 534 because of the average particle size of the material. In a further example, the blocking agent 556 may be too viscous to allow passage through the filter medium 534. As such, the blocking agent 556 may be applied to the filter medium in a manner to effectively block the desired portion of the filter medium 534. For example, the blocking agent 556 may be applied in discrete layers over a desired portion of the filter medium 534. The use of multiple discrete layers of the blocking agent may be employed to achieve blockage of fluid passage through the filter medium 534.
In a specific aspect, the blocking agent 556 may be a solid media. The solid media may be disposed within the filter medium 534 so as to obstruct passage fluid passage through the filter medium 534. In an aspect, the solid media may have an average particle size that may prevent fluid passage through the filter medium 534. In further aspects, the solid media may be disposed within the filter medium 534 in such an amount that the addition of the solid media blocks the flow of fluid passage through the filter medium 534. For example, and not to be limiting suitable solid media blocking 556 agents may include sand, steel shot, and glass beads. Additional solid media blocking agents 556 may include water soluble powders. For example, the water soluble powder may including baking soda and other soluble salts.
In a particular example, soot may be an appropriate blocking agent 556 comprising a solid media. As an example, soot may have an average particle size that is generally too large to allow passage through the filter medium 534. This larger particle size may also contribute to why soot may accumulate within the filter medium 534. The soot blocking agent 556 may be applied to portions of the filter medium 534 in discrete layers. In one example, the thickness of the layer of soot may be so configured to block portions of the filter medium 534.
In a further aspect, the blocking agent 556 may include a viscous material. It is the viscosity of the blocking agent 556 that may prevent the blocking agent 556 from readily passing through the filter medium 534. The blocking agent 556 may include a viscous material. An exemplary viscous material may include a viscous resin, such as shellac. As one skilled in the art might appreciate, shellac and similarly viscous materials exhibit greater resistance to gradual deformation by stress or force on the material. As such, the stress resistance of viscous materials may tend to prevent the flow of the material through the filter medium 534 of the DPF 518. As an example, the viscous material may resist passage through the porous substrate 546 of the filter medium 534.
Turning to
In yet further aspects of the present disclosure, the pressurized air stream 654 represents only one example of a means of displacing the accumulated particulate 652 including ash. Other appropriate displacement mechanisms may include an effluent flush of the DPF 618. A suitable effluent may include water, such as a pressurized water flow.
Referring to
In an aspect, the blocking agent 756 to be removed may be a solid media. Removal of a solid media blocking agent 756 may depend upon the nature of solubility of the solid media. In one example, the blocking agent 756 may include a water soluble solid media. Water soluble may refer to the capacity of the solid media to dissolve in water or to form a homogenous mixture in an aqueous medium. Where the blocking agent 756 may comprise a water soluble solid media, the blocking agent 756 may be removed from the DPF 718 using a water flush. In a water flush, water may be caused to flow through the DPF 718 thereby dissolving the water soluble solid media. An exemplary, but non-limiting, water soluble solid media may include sodium bicarbonate, commonly baking soda. In a further example, the blocking agent 756 may include a non-water soluble solid media such as sand, glass beads, and steel shot. Where a non-water soluble solid media is introduced into the outlet channels of the filter medium, the non-water soluble solid media may be removed by inverting the DPF 718 so that the second axial end 728 is oriented downwards in the direction of gravity. In this orientation, the solid media may readily flow out of the outlet channels 753 of the filter medium 734.
In one aspect, the blocking agent 756 may be a solid media including soot. As noted above, soot may be a suitable blocking agent 756 owing to its relatively larger particle size rendering the filter medium 734 non-permeable. In one example, the blocking-agent-removal of a soot blocking agent 756 may include burning the soot off of the filter medium 734 using an appropriate external heat source. The heat source may be configured to provide temperatures high enough to combust the blocking agent 756 without damaging the porous substrate 746 of the filter medium 734.
In another specific aspect, the blocking agent 756 to be removed may include a viscous material. Removal of a viscous blocking agent 756 may include the application of a material configured to reduce viscosity. The application of a material configured to reduce the viscosity of the blocking agent 756 may provide for the blocking agent 756 to be flushed out of the filter medium 734 for example using an effluent. In one example where the viscous blocking agent 756 may include shellac, the material configured to reduce the viscosity of the blocking agent 756 may be a lacquer solvent, such as paint thinner.
The disclosure is generally applicable to a method of removing particulate accumulated on a DPF by use of a blocking agent. In general, the method prescribes selective application of the blocking agent at the filter medium of the DPF, the direction of pressurized air through filtering channels of the filter medium to dislodge the particulate, and removal of the blocking agent from the filter medium of the DPF.
Step 802 may include applying a blocking agent 656 at the filter medium 634 of the DPF 618. The blocking agent 656 may be applied in a manner so as to effectively prevent fluid passage through the channels 651, 653 of the filter medium 634. The blocking agent 656 may be selectively applied to portions of the filter medium 634 within which particulate 652 has not accumulated.
Step 804 may include directing a fluid stream through the filter wall 640 and the filter medium 634 at portions of the filter medium 634 to which the blocking agent 656 has not been applied. A fluid stream, such as a pressurized air stream 654, may be directed from the second axial end 628 towards the first axial end 626 of the DPF 618 into the portions of the filter medium 534 where the blocking agent 656 has not been applied. The pressurized air stream 654 may be used to dislodge the accumulated particulate 652.
Step 806 may include removing the blocking agent from the filter medium. Referring to
It should be understood that the above description is intended for illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other aspects of the disclosure can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing description provides examples of the disclosed system and technique. However, it is contemplated that other implementations of the disclosure may differ in detail from the foregoing examples. All references to the disclosure or examples thereof are intended to reference the particular example being discussed at that point and are not intended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure more generally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect to certain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for those features, but not to exclude such from the scope of the disclosure entirely unless otherwise indicated.
Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
