Research on NOx Emission Aftertreatment of Lean Burn Gasoline Engine Using Adsorber Reduction Catalyst

A novel catalyst converter system has been developed for NOx emission aftertreatment of lean burn gasoline engines. The goal is to investigate its impact on emission characteristic and Break Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) across a wide range of engine speed and load operating regions, subject to several arrangement schemes for this catalyst converter. It has been indicated from experimental results that the upstream placement of TWC (Three Way Catalyst) ahead of the NOx Adsorber Catalyst is the best solution, which gives rise to the highest converting efficiency to reduce the NOx emission level of the lean burn gasoline engine. The effects of engine speed on exhaust emissions and BSFC are also reflected by operating time of lean mode and rich mode as well as the time ratio between the two using adsorber-reduction catalyst converters. Engine load is in fact the major factor in affecting exhaust characteristics and BSFC of lean burn engines.