Catalyst State Diagnosis of Three-Way Catalytic Converters Using Different Resonance Parameters-A Microwave Cavity Perturbation Study
SENSORS
Authors: Steiner, Carsten; Malashchuk, Vladimir; Kubinski, David; Hagen, Gunter; Moos, Ralf
Abstract
Recently, radio frequency (RF) technology was introduced as a tool to determine the oxygen storage level of a three-way catalyst (TWC) for gasoline vehicles. Previous studies on the investigation of commercial catalysts mostly use only the resonant frequency to describe the correlation of oxygen storage level and RF signal. For the first time this study presents a comparison under defined laboratory conditions considering both, resonance frequency and also the quality factor as measurands. Furthermore, various advantages over the sole use of the resonant frequency in the technical application are discussed. Experiments with O4.66'' catalysts and O1.66'' catalyst cores with alternating (rich/lean) gas compositions showed that the relative change in signal amplitude due to a change in oxygen storage is about 100 times higher for the inverse quality factor compared to the resonant frequency. In addition, the quality factor reacts more sensitively to the onset of the oxygen-storage ability, and delivers precise information about the necessary temperature, which is not possible when evaluating the resonant frequency due to the low signal amplitude. As investigations on aged catalysts confirm, the quality factor also provides a new approach to determine operando the ageing state of a TWC.
Crystal Structure and Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Cordierite Honeycomb Ceramics
PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI A-APPLICATIONS AND MATERIALS SCIENCE
Authors: Son, Min-A; Chae, Ki-Woong; Kim, Jeong Seog; Kim, Shin-Han
Abstract
Cordierite honeycomb ceramics are sintered under a range of sintering atmosphere and temperature conditions. The linear thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) is measured along the extrusion direction. The samples sintered in an enclosed crucible have a much lower CTE than those sintered in open air. The CTE decreases with increasing sintering temperature up to 1450 degrees C. The polymorphic phases, texture, amorphous phase, impurity crystals, and porosity are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, HR-TEM, porosimeter, and Rietveld refinement method. The sintered samples consist of two polymorphic phases: indialite (hexagonal symmetry) and cordierite (orthorhombic symmetry). Both the volume % of the cordierite phase and the crystal texture increase with increasing sintering temperature. The orthorhombic distortion of cordierite from the hexagonal lattice (indialite) increases with increasing sintering temperature. The characteristic six-membered ring of the (Si,Al)-O4 tetrahedra in the cordierite structure shows substantial changes in the bond length due to Al-Si ordering. Amorphous phase and impurity crystal phases such as silimanite and spinel remain at temperatures as high as 1450 degrees C. The effect of the polymorphic phases, the degree of texture, amorphous phase, impurity crystal phases, and the orthorhombic distortion is discussed in relation to the CTE characteristics of honeycomb.