Grant: Automotive Partnership Canada Project

Treatment of exhaust gas from automotive sources is required to meet government mandated limits on theemission of specified pollutants, primarily hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and oxides of nitrogen(NOX). Recent government initiatives are targeting the release of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a greenhousegas. The first three pollutants can be eliminated through the use of a catalytic after treatment system (catalyticconverter), whilst the reduction of carbon dioxide can only be achieved by a reduction in fuel consumption,which in practice translates into a need for better fuel economy.The purpose of this research is to conduct a three year development program using a mixture of experimentaland computational methods to yield a rigorous demonstration of the benefits of the Multi Chamber CatalyticConverter (MCCC) in Diesel engine (lean burn) exhaust gas after treatment systems. The demonstration projectmust be acceptable to OEM and vehicle manufacturers. The MCCC design is a concept pioneered by VidaHoldings. The project is a collaborative venture between the University of Alberta (Department of Chemicaland Materials Engineering, and the Department of Mechanical Engineering) and Vida Holdings.Preliminary investigations have demonstrated the MCCC offers the potential to reduce emissions and improvefuel economy compared to a conventional converter, when tested for systems designed for stoichiometricgasoline fuelled engines. The exhaust system for the Diesel engine (lean burn) is substantially morecomplicated. It is intended to use the knowledge generated in the earlier study to develop the MCCC into aviable concept for this complex exhaust gas after treatment system.The main objectives of this project are to define the parameters that could lead to either reduced emissions,reduced need for precious metals, or enhance the vehicle fuel economy.