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More stringent emission regulations have forced an overall systems approach to meeting standards in the most effective manner. An important part of the emissions after-treatment system is the substrate. In recent years, thin wall high cell density substrates have become available. These substrates reportedly offer lower thermal mass and better heat transfer properties for faster light-off and better mass transfer properties for increased performance under stabilized conditions. This paper examines the behavior of high cell density substrate systems under a series of test conditions. A comparison of 400/6, 600/4, 600/3 and 900/2 was carried out both on a bench engine for stabilized and light-off conversion, and also under the ECE/EUDC test procedure. Bench engine results showed significant benefits for HC, CO and NOx emissions when using the higher cell density thinwall substrates.

A computer model is successfully used to predict emissions from a vehicle, fitted with a catalyst, over a standard driving cycle (the U.S. FTP cycle). Kinetic expressions to describe the catalyst's activity are derived from laboratory measurements. A study showing the effect of changing the precious metal loading of the catalyst on the activity of the catalyst is presented. The impact on model parameters is derived and the model is successfully used to predict the effect of changing precious metal loading on vehicle performance over the FTP cycle. The results indicate the model can be a useful tool in exhaust system design.