Technical Paper
Exhaust Particle Sensor for OBD Application
2011-04-12
2011-01-0626
Efforts to develop a sensor for on-board diagnostics (OBD) of diesel vehicles are intensive as diesel particulate filters (DPFs) have become widespread around the world. This study presents a novel sensor that has been successfully tested for OBD diagnosis of damaged DPFs. The sensor is based on the "escaping current" technique. Based on this, a sample of exhaust gas is charged by a corona-ionized flow and is pumped by an ejector dilutor built in the sensor's construction. While the majority of ions return to the grounded sensor's body, a small quantity is lost with the charged particles exiting the sensor. This "escaping current" is a measurement of the particle concentration in the exhaust gas. Such a sensor has been developed and tested in real-exhaust of a diesel car and a diesel engine. The sensor provides high resolution (1 Hz, 0.3 s response time) and high sensitivity superseding OBD requirements. The sensor was used on an engine to monitor the efficiency of damaged DPFs.
