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Investigation of urea-water solution spray impingement on the hot surface of automotive SCR system

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Abstract

Selective catalytic reduction is the most promising technique for NOx reduction from diesel engine exhaust emissions. The greatest challenge to implementing the system is solid deposit formation. Spray wall impingement of UWS was investigated in a constant volume chamber by numerical simulation using STAR CCM+ CFD code. The realizable k-ε two-layer approach together with standard wall functions and all y+ treatment was implemented for the modeling of turbulence flow. The two-phase flow was modeled by using Eulerian- Lagrangian approach. The heated wall temperature was maintained from 338 K to 573 K during the UWS spray wall impingement. The development of the spray after impinging on the heated wall was visualized and measured. UWS droplet size distribution, wall film formation and droplet evaporation rates were estimated, which are vital parameters for the system performance but not well researched. User-defined functions (UDF) were developed to input the Leidenfrost temperature limit in the calculation and to estimate the desired parameters. The investigation reveals that wall temperature is the most important parameter that significantly affects spray development after impingement, droplet size distribution, wall film formation and droplet evaporation. Increasing the wall temperature leads to longer spray front projection length, smaller droplet size, faster droplet evaporation and smaller film thickness, which are preconditions for urea crystallization reduction. The numerical model and parameters were validated by comparing with experimental data.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 680-749, Korea

    G. M. Hasan Shahariar & Muhammad Khristamto Aditya Wardana

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 680-749, Korea

    Ock Taeck Lim

Authors
  1. G. M. Hasan Shahariar
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  2. Muhammad Khristamto Aditya Wardana
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  3. Ock Taeck Lim
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Correspondence to Ock Taeck Lim.

Additional information

Ock Taeck Lim received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Chonnam National University, Korea, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. He received his Ph.D. from Keio University in 2006. Dr. Lim is currently a Professor at the School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering at University of Ulsan, Korea. His research interests include internal combustion engines, alternative fuels and emission reduction.

G. M. Hasan Shahariar received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET), Bangladesh in 2014. Currently, he is doing his M.Sc. His research interest includes emission reduction, spray analysis, spray simulations.

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Shahariar, G.M.H., Wardana, M.K.A. & Lim, O.T. Investigation of urea-water solution spray impingement on the hot surface of automotive SCR system. J Mech Sci Technol 32, 2935–2946 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0550-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0550-9

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