Thermal and fluid flow analysis of innovative Cleanalytic catalytic converter

随着越来越严格的排放标准以及对现代汽车更高的燃油经济性要求， 随着车辆的发展，对改进的或新的催化转化器技术的需求持续增长。新一代 由维达控股公司设计并获得专利的催化转化器， 转化器优于传统的催化转化器，从而改善了排放和燃油经济性， 降低成本。在这种设计中，在陶瓷蜂窝的内部放置一层薄的绝缘材料， 催化转化器，将陶瓷基底分成内流动区和外流动区。的改善 催化转化器的性能归因于从内到外的受控热扩散 砖区也改善了通过转炉的流量分布。为了设计和开发这个 尽管维达在不同平台上使用不同的技术，但它在很大程度上依赖于计算流体动力学（CFD）模拟。 这些模拟需要校准和验证，以正确地模拟通过催化剂的流动细节。 转换器，并确定最佳CleanalyticTM设计，以实现最佳性能。所以在这 项目，将进行详细的实验研究，以评估热和流体流动 CleanalyticTM催化转化器与基准转化器相比的特性。这些实验 对于验证当前假设以及校准和验证Vidas CFD模型至关重要， 允许更好的CleanalyticTM设计，以最大限度地提高其性能。

With increasingly more stringent emission standards as well as higher fuel economy requirements for modern vehicles, the need for improved or new catalytic converter technologies continues to grow. A new generation of catalytic converters, designed and patented by Vida Holdings, offers improved thermal management of the converter over traditional catalytic converters resulting in improved emissions and fuel economy as well as reduced cost. In this design, a thin layer of insulating material is placed inside the ceramic honeycomb of the catalytic converter, dividing the ceramic substrate into an inner and an outer flow zones. The improvement in the performance of the catalytic converter is attributed to the controlled heat diffusion from the inner to the outer brick zones which also improve the flow distribution through the converter. In order to design and develop this technology for different platforms, Vida relies heavily on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. These simulations require calibration and validation to properly model the flow details through the catalytic converter and determine the optimal CleanalyticTM design for the best possible performance. Therefore, in this project, a detailed experimental investigation will be conducted in order to evaluate the thermal and fluid flow characteristics of the CleanalyticTM catalytic converter compared to the baseline converters. These experiments are essential for validating the current hypothesis as well as calibrate and validate Vidas CFD models and will allow for a better CleanalyticTM design in order to maximize its performance.