Numerical Study of the Thermal and Fluid Behavior of Three-Dimensional Microstructures for Efficient Catalytic Converters

Abstract

Global regulations for emission reduction are continually becoming stricter, and conventional catalytic converters may be efficient in the future because of their low conversion efficiencies at cold-start. In this study, to overcome the performance limitations of conventional catalytic converters, a three-dimensional (3D) microstructured catalytic substrate was designed, and simulations of the fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical reaction for the proposed catalytic substrates were performed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The effect of the pressure drop on the catalytic conversion efficiency of various 3D microarchitectures was investigated. Due to the three-dimensional microstructure, the fluid flow changed and fluid pressure increased, which led to energy loss. It was confirmed that the abrupt change in flow increased the heat transfer. The findings showed that the fluid flow changed due to the existence of a complex periodic microlattice structure instead of the existing monolithic structure, which promoted the conversion of harmful substances. Based on the CFD analysis of the thermal and fluid properties, it was confirmed that 3D microarchitectures can provide alternatives to conventional catalytic supports structures for efficient catalytic converters.