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Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of NOx through injection of Urea-Water-Solution (UWS) into the hot exhaust gas stream is an effective and extensively used strategy in internal combustion engines. Even though actual SCR systems have 95-96% de-NOx efficiency over test cycles, real driving emissions of NOx are a challenge, proving that there is room for improvement. The efficiency of the NOx conversion is highly dependent on the size of UWS droplets and their spatial distribution. These factors are, in turn, mainly determined by the spray characteristics and its interaction with the exhaust gas flow. The main purpose of this study is to numerically investigate the sensitivity to the modelling framework of the evaporation and mixing of the spray upstream of the catalyst. The dynamics of discrete droplets is handled through the Lagrangian Particle Tracking framework, with models that account for droplet breakup and coalescence, turbulence effects, and water evaporation.

It has been observed that intermittent injection leads to improved spray characteristics in terms of mixing and gas entrainment. Although some experimental work has been carried out in the past, the disintegration mechanisms that govern the breakup of intermittent jets remain unknown. In this paper we have carried out a systematic numerical analysis of the breakup of pulsated jets under different injection conditions. More specifically, the duty cycle (share of active injection during one cycle) is varied, while the total cycle time is kept constant. The advection of the liquid phase is handled through the Volume of Fluid approach and, in order to provide an accurate, yet computationally acceptable, resolution of the turbulent structures, the implicit Large Eddy Simulation has been adopted. The results show that the primary disintegration results from a combination of stretching, collision and aerodynamic interaction effects.

To improve fuel efficiency and facilitate handling of the vehicle in a dense city environment, it should be as small as possible given its intended application. This downsizing trend impacts the size of the engine bay, where the air filter box has to be packed in a reduced space, still without increased pressure drop, reduced load capacity nor lower filtering efficiency. Due to its flexibility and reduced cost, CFD simulations play an important role in the optimization process of the filter design. Even though the air-flow through the filter box changes as the dust load increases, the current modeling framework seldom account for such time dependence. Volvo Car Corporation presents an industrial affordable model to solve the time-dependent dust load on filter elements and calculate the corresponding flow behavior over the life time of the air filter box.