Magnetic resonance velocity imaging of gas flow in a diesel particulate filter

Effects of inlet velocity and structure parameters on the performance of a rotary diesel particulate filter for truck diesel engine based on fuzzy grey relational analysis

In this paper, a three-dimensional mathematical model of the rotary diesel particulate filter (RDPF) for truck diesel engine is established according to the fluid mechanics and porous media theory. The effects of inlet velocity and structure parameters (diameter ratio, expansion angle and filter length) on the flow uniformity in the RDPF are investigated. Furthermore, the Fuzzy grey relational analysis (FGRA) is employed to make a weight analysis of the influences of structure parameters on the regeneration performance and pressure drop of the RDPF. The results show that the velocity uniformity in the RDPF can be improved by properly reducing the inlet velocity, diameter ratio or expansion angle θ₁. The capture-regeneration volume ratio with 8-10 is appropriate range for the structural optimization. Finally, the expansion angle θ₁ is the most important structure parameter for the filter regeneration performance (regeneration time R = 0.8467; regeneration efficiency R = 0.6849) and the diameter ratio is the most important structure parameter for the pressure drop at the capture-regeneration "balance point" (R = 0.9352).

Full-Field Comparison of MRV and CFD of Gas Flow through Regular Catalytic Monolithic Structures

Understanding the influence of gas flow maldistribution in honeycombs can be beneficial for the process design in various technical applications. Although recent studies have investigated the effect of maldistribution by comparing the results of numerical simulations with experimental measurements, an exhaustive 3D full-field comparison is still lacking. Such full-field comparisons are required to identify and eliminate possible limitations of numerical and experimental tools. For that purpose, spatially resolved flow patterns were simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and measured experimentally by non-invasive NMR velocimetry (MRV). While the latter might suffer from a misinterpretation of artefacts, the reliability of CFD is linked to correctly chosen boundary conditions. Here, a full-field numerical and experimental analysis of the gas flow within catalytic honeycombs is presented. The velocity field of thermally polarized methane gas was measured in a regular 3D-printed honeycomb and a commercial monolith using an optimized MRV pulse sequence to enhance the obtained signal-to-noise ratio. A second pulse sequence was used to show local flow propagators along the axial and radial direction of the honeycomb to quantify the contribution of diffusion to mass transport. A quantitative comparison of the axially averaged convective flow as determined by MRV and CFD shows a very good matching with an agreement of ±5% and 10% for printed and commercial samples, respectively. The impact of maldistribution on the gas flow pattern can be observed in both simulation and experiments, confirming the existence of an entrance effect. Gas displacement measurements, however, revealed that diffusive interchannel transport can also contribute to maldistribution, as was shown for the commercial sample. The good agreement between the simulation and experiments underpins the reliability of both methods for studying gas hydrodynamics within opaque monolith structures.

Numerical Study of Flow and Particle Deposition in Wall-Flow Filters with Intact or Damaged Exit

We examine the time-dependent three-dimensional gas-particle flow in an intact wall-flow filter consisting of channels alternatively plugged at each end and a partially damaged filter in which the rear plugs are removed. Our focus is placed on highlighting the differences in the flow pattern and the deposition process between the two geometries. The Navier–Stokes equations are solved for the fluid flow coupled with a Brinkman/Forchheimmer model in order to simulate the flow in the porous walls and plugs. Discrete particle simulation is utilized to determine the nanoparticle trajectories. Using this scheme, we are able to characterize the main features of the flow fields developing in the intact and damaged filters with respect to the Reynolds number and identify those affecting the transport and deposition of particles that have three representative response times. We present fluid velocity iso-contours, which describe the flow regimes inside the channels, as well as in regions upstream and downstream of them. We provide evidence of local recirculating bubbles at the entrance of the channels and after their exit, whereas back-flow occurs in front of the rear plugs of the intact channels. We show that the flow leaves the channels as strong jets that may break up for certain flow parameters, leading to turbulence with features that depend on the presence of the rear plugs. The removal of the rear plugs affects the flow distribution, which, in turn influences the flow rates along the channels and through the walls. We describe the particle trajectories and the topology of deposited particles and show that particles follow closely the streamlines, which may cross the surface of permeable walls for both flow configurations. The distribution of deposited particles resembles the spatial variation of the through-wall flow rate, exhibiting two peak values at both ends of the intact filter channel, and one local maximum near the entrance of the damaged filter channel that is diminished at the exit. We also investigate in detail the particle deposition on the frontal face and indicate that particle accumulation at the edges of the entrance is favored for particles with low response times in flows with high fluid mass rates for both intact and damaged filters. Finally, we examine the filtration efficiency for the defective channels without rear plugs and show that fewer particles are captured as the Reynolds number is increased. A smaller reduction of the filtration efficiency is also predicted with increasing particle size.

Applications of magnetic resonance imaging in chemical engineering

While there are many techniques to study phenomena that occur in chemical engineering applications, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) receives increasing scientific interest. Its non-invasive nature and wealth of parameters with the ability to generate functional images and contrast favors the use of MRI for many purposes, in particular investigations of dynamic phenomena, since it is very sensitive to motion. Recent progress in flow-MRI has led to shorter acquisition times and enabled studies of transient phenomena. Reactive systems can easily be imaged if NMR parameters such as relaxation change along the reaction coordinate. Moreover, materials and devices can be examined, such as batteries by mapping the magnetic field around them.