A Filtration System for High-Pressure Loop EGR 2011-01-0413

Cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is widely applied in modern diesels to effectively control nitric oxides (NO_x) emission. However, unfiltered high-pressure loop EGR leads to EGR cooler fouling and loss of its effectiveness. Reduced EGR cooler effectiveness often leads to increased NO_x emission through increased intake charge temperature and/or reduced EGR flows. Therefore, there is a desire to avoid EGR cooler fouling and its associated problems. Filtering the EGR upstream from the EGR cooler is considered a potential solution to preserve EGR cooler effectiveness over long operating periods and simplify the control of the EGR system. The effect of EGR filter filtration efficiency on the EGR cooler effectiveness was investigated at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). Alantum, a filter manufacturer from Korea, developed EGR filters having 50 and 70 percent filtration efficiency for this study. A 2008 calibration, V8, A350 International diesel engine was used in this work. A continuous 30-hour test was conducted for each of the three configurations: the baseline configuration (without an EGR filter), with 50 percent, and 70 percent filtration efficiency filter. The EGR cooler effectiveness, pressure drop across the EGR filter and the cooler, EGR flow rate, and real-time filtration efficiencies of EGR filters are presented in this paper.