Study on NOx reduction with multi-perforated tube geometry in integrated urea-SCR muffler

A multi-perforated tube is generally installed between the muffler inlet and in front of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts in the integrated urea-SCR muffler system in order to disperse the urea-water solution spray uniformly and to make better use of the SCR catalyst, which would result in an increase nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction efficiency and a decrease in the ammonia slip. The effects of the multi-perforated tube orifice area ratios on the internal flow characteristics were investigated analytically by using a general-purpose commercial software package. From the results, it was clarified that the multi-perforated tube geometry sensitively affected the generation of the bulk swirling motion inside the plenum chamber set in front of the SCR catalyst and to the uniformity index of the velocity distribution produced at the inlet of the catalyst. To verify the analytical results, engine tests were carried out in the ESC and ETC modes. Results of these tests indicated that the larger flow model in the longitudinal direction showed the highest NOx reduction efficiency, which was a good agreement with the analytical results.