Effect of soot particle deposition on porous fouling formation and thermal characteristics of an exhaust gas recirculation cooler

Abstract

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems have been successfully employed to reduce the NOx emissions in diesel engines. However, the fouling problem in EGR coolers challenges their capability to comply with stringent environmental regulations. A few numerical simulations have considered the fouling growth in EGR coolers. Those studies modeled the evolving fouling layer to be a solid medium, therefore, fluid flow and convection heat transfer within the fouling layer, which is well-documented to be a porous medium permeable to gas flow, have not been considered yet. As such, the present study investigates the simultaneous effects of the formation of the evolving porous fouling layer (EPFL) at the walls of an EGR cooler and fluid flow and convection heat transfer simulation within this EPFL to determine its coupled effects on the thermal performance of the EGR cooler. This study also investigates the possibility of formation of a steady fouling layer (SFL) because of the opposing effects of the fouling layer growth and deposition rate. The effects of two pertinent dimensionless parameters, namely Darcy number (10-4≤Da≤5×10-3) and Reynolds number (100≤Re≤400) on the time history of the fouling layer growth, deterioration of the thermal performance of the duct, and average Nusselt number ratio (Nuav/Nuavt=0) are studied. The results show that the thermal performance of the duct decreases as the EPFL grows, which agrees well with the available experimental data. It is shown that the steady fouling layer is obtained due to a decrease in thermophoretic force and deposition rate, as a result of the EPFL formation. Finally, a correlation is proposed in terms of Reynolds and Darcy numbers for the time at which the SFL occurs.