US20210348536A1 - OPTICAL SENSING OF NOx AND AMMONIA IN AFTERTREATMENT SYSTEMS - Google Patents

OPTICAL SENSING OF NOx AND AMMONIA IN AFTERTREATMENT SYSTEMS Download PDF

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US20210348536A1
US20210348536A1 US17/277,900 US201917277900A US2021348536A1 US 20210348536 A1 US20210348536 A1 US 20210348536A1 US 201917277900 A US201917277900 A US 201917277900A US 2021348536 A1 US2021348536 A1 US 2021348536A1
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exhaust gas
aftertreatment
ammonia
optical
amount
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Nathan A. Ottinger
Z. Gerald Liu
Yuanzhou Xi
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Cummins Emission Solutions Inc
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Cummins Emission Solutions Inc
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Priority to US17/277,900 priority Critical patent/US20210348536A1/en
Assigned to CUMMINS EMISSION SOLUTIONS INC. reassignment CUMMINS EMISSION SOLUTIONS INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: OTTINGER, Nathan A., LIU, Z. GERALD, XI, Yuanzhou
Publication of US20210348536A1 publication Critical patent/US20210348536A1/en
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    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N3/00—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust
    • F01N3/08—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust for rendering innocuous
    • F01N3/10—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust for rendering innocuous by thermal or catalytic conversion of noxious components of exhaust
    • F01N3/18—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust for rendering innocuous by thermal or catalytic conversion of noxious components of exhaust characterised by methods of operation; Control
    • F01N3/20—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust for rendering innocuous by thermal or catalytic conversion of noxious components of exhaust characterised by methods of operation; Control specially adapted for catalytic conversion ; Methods of operation or control of catalytic converters
    • F01N3/2066—Selective catalytic reduction [SCR]
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N11/00—Monitoring or diagnostic devices for exhaust-gas treatment apparatus, e.g. for catalytic activity
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N9/00—Electrical control of exhaust gas treating apparatus
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/17—Systems in which incident light is modified in accordance with the properties of the material investigated
    • G01N21/25—Colour; Spectral properties, i.e. comparison of effect of material on the light at two or more different wavelengths or wavelength bands
    • G01N21/31—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry
    • G01N21/33—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry using ultraviolet light
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/17—Systems in which incident light is modified in accordance with the properties of the material investigated
    • G01N21/25—Colour; Spectral properties, i.e. comparison of effect of material on the light at two or more different wavelengths or wavelength bands
    • G01N21/31—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry
    • G01N21/35—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry using infrared light
    • G01N21/3504—Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry using infrared light for analysing gases, e.g. multi-gas analysis
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/0004—Gaseous mixtures, e.g. polluted air
    • G01N33/0009—General constructional details of gas analysers, e.g. portable test equipment
    • G01N33/0027—General constructional details of gas analysers, e.g. portable test equipment concerning the detector
    • G01N33/0036—General constructional details of gas analysers, e.g. portable test equipment concerning the detector specially adapted to detect a particular component
    • G01N33/0037—NOx
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N2560/00—Exhaust systems with means for detecting or measuring exhaust gas components or characteristics
    • F01N2560/02—Exhaust systems with means for detecting or measuring exhaust gas components or characteristics the means being an exhaust gas sensor
    • F01N2560/021—Exhaust systems with means for detecting or measuring exhaust gas components or characteristics the means being an exhaust gas sensor for measuring or detecting ammonia NH3
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N2560/00—Exhaust systems with means for detecting or measuring exhaust gas components or characteristics
    • F01N2560/02—Exhaust systems with means for detecting or measuring exhaust gas components or characteristics the means being an exhaust gas sensor
    • F01N2560/026—Exhaust systems with means for detecting or measuring exhaust gas components or characteristics the means being an exhaust gas sensor for measuring or detecting NOx
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N2560/00—Exhaust systems with means for detecting or measuring exhaust gas components or characteristics
    • F01N2560/12—Other sensor principles, e.g. using electro conductivity of substrate or radio frequency
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N2610/00—Adding substances to exhaust gases
    • F01N2610/02—Adding substances to exhaust gases the substance being ammonia or urea
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N2610/00—Adding substances to exhaust gases
    • F01N2610/14—Arrangements for the supply of substances, e.g. conduits
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N2900/00—Details of electrical control or of the monitoring of the exhaust gas treating apparatus
    • F01N2900/06—Parameters used for exhaust control or diagnosing
    • F01N2900/16—Parameters used for exhaust control or diagnosing said parameters being related to the exhaust apparatus, e.g. particulate filter or catalyst
    • F01N2900/1614—NOx amount trapped in catalyst
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N2900/00—Details of electrical control or of the monitoring of the exhaust gas treating apparatus
    • F01N2900/06—Parameters used for exhaust control or diagnosing
    • F01N2900/16—Parameters used for exhaust control or diagnosing said parameters being related to the exhaust apparatus, e.g. particulate filter or catalyst
    • F01N2900/1622—Catalyst reducing agent absorption capacity or consumption amount
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01N—GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F01N3/00—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust
    • F01N3/08—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust for rendering innocuous
    • F01N3/10—Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust for rendering innocuous by thermal or catalytic conversion of noxious components of exhaust
    • F01N3/105—General auxiliary catalysts, e.g. upstream or downstream of the main catalyst
    • F01N3/106—Auxiliary oxidation catalysts
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
    • Y02T10/10—Internal combustion engine [ICE] based vehicles
    • Y02T10/12—Improving ICE efficiencies

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates generally to aftertreatment systems for use with internal combustion (IC) engines.
  • IC internal combustion
  • Exhaust aftertreatment systems are used to receive and treat exhaust gas generated by IC engines.
  • exhaust gas aftertreatment systems include any of several different components to reduce the levels of harmful exhaust emissions present in the exhaust gas.
  • certain exhaust gas aftertreatment systems for diesel-powered IC engines include a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system including a catalyst formulated to convert NO x (NO and NO 2 in some fraction) into harmless nitrogen gas (N 2 ) and water vapor (H 2 O) in the presence of ammonia (NH 3 ).
  • SCR selective catalytic reduction
  • an exhaust reductant e.g., a diesel exhaust fluid such as a urea solution
  • the reduction byproducts of the exhaust gas are then fluidly communicated to the catalyst included in the SCR system to decompose substantially all of the NO x gases into relatively harmless byproducts which are expelled out of the aftertreatment system.
  • Measuring an amount of NO x gases and/or ammonia in the exhaust gas is desirable for efficient insertion of reductant in aftertreatment systems.
  • the amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas can indicate how efficiently the reductant is decomposing in the exhaust gas, an ammonia capacity, or catalytic conversion efficiency of a SCR catalyst or an ammonia oxidation (AMO x ) catalyst, respectively if the ammonia concentration is measured downstream of the catalyst.
  • measuring concentration of ammonia or NO adsorbed on a face of the SCR catalyst or AMO x catalyst can indicate an ammonia absorbing capacity or catalytic conversion efficiency, respectively, of the SCR catalyst, or indicate a catalytic conversion efficiency of the AMO x catalyst.
  • Embodiments described herein relate generally to systems and methods for optically sensing an amount of ammonia and/or NO on a face of an aftertreatment component, and/or in exhaust gas flowing through an aftertreatment system.
  • systems and methods described herein comprise diffuse or specular optical assemblies configured to measure an amount of NO or ammonia on a face of a catalyst, or an amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system.
  • the optical assembly comprises an optical emitter configured to emit light onto a face of the aftertreatment component, and an optical detector configured to detect light reflected from the face of the aftertreatment component.
  • a controller is configured to determine at least one of an amount of NO gases or an amount of ammonia on the face of the aftertreatment component based on an optical parameter of the detected light that has reflected from the face of the aftertreatment component.
  • the optical assembly comprises an optical emitter configured to emit light through the exhaust gas, and an optical detector configured to detect light that has passed through the exhaust gas.
  • a controller is configured to determine an amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas based on an optical parameter of the detected light that has passed through the exhaust gas.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system, according to an embodiment.
  • FIG. 2 is schematic block diagram of a control circuitry that can include a controller of the aftertreatment system of FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment.
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system, according to another embodiment
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system, according to still another embodiment.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system, according to yet another embodiment.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an optical assembly, according to a particular embodiment.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system, according to still another embodiment.
  • FIG. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for controlling an amount of reductant inserted into an aftertreatment system based on an amount of ammonia in an exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system or an amount of NO x gases or ammonia adsorbed on a face of an aftertreatment component of the aftertreatment system, according to an embodiment.
  • Embodiments described herein relate generally to systems and methods for optically sensing an amount of ammonia and/or NO x on a face of an aftertreatment component, and/or in exhaust gas flowing through an aftertreatment system.
  • systems and methods described herein comprise diffuse or specular optical assemblies configured to measure an amount of NO x or ammonia on a face of a catalyst, or an amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system.
  • Measurement of NO x or ammonia adsorbed in SCR catalysts is generally performed indirectly using complex algorithms. Some techniques include estimating NO x absorption or ammonia capacity of the SCR catalyst via determination of an amount of reductant inserted into the aftertreatment, an amount of NO x gases in the exhaust gas flowing through the SCR catalyst, and/or an age of a catalyst. Similarly, an amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas is measured indirectly based on the amount of inserted reductant to the exhaust gas, and an amount of NO x in the exhaust gas. These indirect measurements are prone to errors and increase the complexity of measurement systems.
  • the temperature of the aftertreatment system may not get high enough to remove all ammonia from the SCR catalyst and reset a measurement algorithm every 100 hours during a timer based regeneration.
  • Some conventional systems use ammonia sensors for measuring ammonia concentration in the exhaust gas. Such ammonia sensors are, however cross-sensitive to NOR, add significant cost to the aftertreatment system, and only function reliably after a start-up period.
  • Various embodiments of systems and methods described herein for sensing an amount of NOR and/or ammonia on a face of an aftertreatment component, or an amount of ammonia in an exhaust gas may provide one or more benefits including, for example: (1) providing sensitive measurement of ammonia and/or NOR coverage on an aftertreatment component such as an SCR or AMOR catalyst, or an amount of ammonia in an exhaust gas via optical sensors; (2) allowing measurement of ammonia and/or NOR coverage at an inlet and/or outlet of an aftertreatment component; (3) reducing the amount of reductant consumed while increasing catalytic conversion efficiency by adjusting an amount of reductant inserted into the aftertreatment system based on accurate measurements of ammonia and/or NOR coverage of an aftertreatment component, and/or an amount of ammonia in exhaust gas; and (4) allowing use of the parameters in an onboard diagnostic systems to detect any abnormalities in operation of the aftertreatment system.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system 100 , according to an embodiment.
  • the aftertreatment system 100 is coupled to an engine 10 (e.g., a diesel engine, a gasoline engine, a natural gas engine, a biodiesel engine, a dual fuel engine, an alcohol engine, an E85 or any other suitable internal combustion engine) and configured to receive an exhaust gas (e.g., a diesel exhaust gas) therefrom.
  • the aftertreatment system 100 is configured to reduce constituents of the exhaust gas such as, for example, NOR gases (e.g., NO, NO 2 , N 2 O, NO 3 , etc.), CO, etc.
  • the aftertreatment system 100 may include a reductant storage tank 110 , a reductant insertion assembly 120 , an aftertreatment component 140 , an upstream aftertreatment component 150 , an optical assembly 160 and a controller 170 .
  • the aftertreatment system 100 includes a housing 101 defining an internal volume.
  • the housing 101 may be formed from a rigid, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant material, for example stainless steel, iron, aluminum, metals, ceramics, or any other suitable material.
  • the housing 101 may have any suitable cross-section, for example circular, square, rectangular, oval, elliptical, polygonal, or any other suitable shape.
  • the aftertreatment component 140 is positioned in the internal volume defined by the housing 101 .
  • the aftertreatment component 140 may include a SCR catalyst formulated to selectively decompose constituents of the exhaust gas.
  • Any suitable catalyst can be used such as, for example, rhodium, cerium, iron, manganese, copper, vanadium based catalyst, any other suitable catalyst, or a combination thereof.
  • the SCR catalyst can be disposed on a suitable substrate such as, for example, a ceramic (e.g., cordierite) or metallic (e.g., kanthal) monolith core which can, for example, define a honeycomb structure.
  • a washcoat can also be used as a carrier material for the SCR catalyst.
  • washcoat materials may comprise, for example, aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, any other suitable washcoat material, or a combination thereof.
  • the exhaust gas e.g., diesel exhaust gas
  • the aftertreatment component 140 may include a selective catalytic reduction filter (SCRF) system, or any other aftertreatment component configured to decompose constituents of the exhaust gas (e.g., NO gases such as such nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc.), flowing through the aftertreatment system 100 in the presence of a reductant, as described herein.
  • SCRF selective catalytic reduction filter
  • an upstream aftertreatment component 150 may be positioned upstream of the aftertreatment component 140 within the internal volume of the housing 101 .
  • the upstream aftertreatment component 150 may include an SCR catalyst.
  • the aftertreatment component 140 may also include a SCR catalyst, an AMO x catalyst (e.g., to decompose any unreacted ammonia in the exhaust gas so as to reduce ammonia slip) or a combination thereof.
  • a plurality of aftertreatment components may be positioned within the internal volume defined by the housing 101 in addition to the aftertreatment component 140 and the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • Such aftertreatment components may include, for example, filters (e.g., particulate matter filters, catalyzed filters, etc.), oxidation catalysts (e.g., carbon monoxide and/or hydrocarbons catalysts), mixers, baffle plates, or any other suitable aftertreatment component.
  • An inlet conduit 102 is coupled to an inlet of the housing 101 and structured to receive exhaust gas from the engine 10 and communicate the exhaust gas to an internal volume defined by the housing 101 . Furthermore, an outlet conduit 104 may be coupled to an outlet of the housing 101 and structured to expel treated exhaust gas into the environment.
  • a first sensor 103 may be positioned in the inlet conduit 102 .
  • the first sensor 103 may comprise a NO x sensor configured to measure an amount of NO gases included in the exhaust gas and may include a physical NO sensor or a virtual NO sensor.
  • the first sensor 103 may include a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, an oxygen sensor or any other sensor configured to measure one or more exhaust gas parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure, flow rate, amount of NO in exhaust gas, etc.).
  • a second sensor 105 may be positioned in the outlet conduit 104 .
  • the second sensor 105 may comprise a second NO sensor configured to determine an amount of NO gases in the exhaust gas expelled into the environment after passing through the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., an SCR catalyst and/or an AMO x catalyst).
  • the second sensor 105 may include a particulate matter sensor.
  • a reductant port 156 may be positioned on the housing 101 and structured to allow insertion of a reductant into a flow path of the exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system 100 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the reductant port 156 is positioned upstream of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 on the housing 101 . In other embodiments, the reductant port 156 may be provided on the inlet conduit 102 . In still other embodiments, the reductant port 156 may be positioned over the aftertreatment component 140 or the upstream aftertreatment component 150 to deliver the reductant directly onto the aftertreatment component 140 or the upstream aftertreatment component 150 , respectively.
  • the reductant storage tank 110 is structured to store the reductant.
  • the reductant is formulated to facilitate decomposition of the constituents of the exhaust gas (e.g., NO x gases included in the exhaust gas). Any suitable reductant can be used.
  • the exhaust gas comprises a diesel exhaust gas and the reductant comprises a diesel exhaust fluid.
  • the diesel exhaust fluid may comprise urea, an aqueous solution of urea, or any other fluid that comprises ammonia, by-products, or any other diesel exhaust fluid as is known in the arts (e.g., the diesel exhaust fluid marketed under the name)ADBLUE®.
  • the reductant comprises an aqueous urea solution having a particular ratio of urea to water.
  • the reductant may comprise an aqueous urea solution including 32.5% by volume of urea and 67.5% by volume of deionized water, or 40% by volume of urea and 60% by volume of deionized water.
  • a reductant insertion assembly 120 is fluidly coupled to the reductant storage tank 110 .
  • the reductant insertion assembly 120 is configured to selectively insert the reductant into the exhaust gas flow path through the reductant port 156 .
  • the reductant insertion assembly 120 may include a pump configured to pump a predetermined amount of reductant into the flow path of the exhaust gas.
  • the pump may be, for example, a centrifugal pump, a suction pump, a positive displacement pump, a diaphragm pump or any other suitable pump.
  • the reductant insertion assembly 120 may also comprise a blending chamber structured to receive pressurized reductant from a metering valve positioned downstream of the pump at a controllable rate.
  • the blending chamber may also be structured to receive air, or any other inert gas (e.g., nitrogen), for example, from an air supply unit so as to deliver a combined flow of the air and the reductant into the exhaust gas through the reductant port 156 .
  • a nozzle may be provided in the reductant port 156 and structured to deliver a stream or a jet of the reductant into the internal volume of the housing 101 so as to deliver the reductant into the exhaust gas.
  • the reductant insertion assembly 120 may also comprise a dosing valve for selectively delivering the reductant from the reductant insertion assembly 120 into the exhaust gas flow path.
  • the dosing valve can comprise any suitable valve, for example a butterfly valve, a gate valve, a check valve (e.g., a tilting disc check valve, a swing check valve, an axial check valve, etc.), a ball valve, a spring loaded valve, an air assisted injector, a solenoid valve, or any other suitable valve.
  • the aftertreatment system 100 also includes an optical assembly 160 .
  • the optical assembly 160 includes an optical emitter 162 configured to emit light A onto a face of the aftertreatment component 140 , and an optical detector 164 configured to detect light reflected B from the face of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the optical emitter 162 is coupled to the housing 101 at a first location, for example, disposed through a wall of the housing 101 at the first location that is between the aftertreatment component 140 and the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • the optical emitter 162 may include a diffuse light source, for example, a light emitting diode (LED).
  • the emitted light may have a wavelength in the infrared (IR) range. In other embodiments, the emitted light may have a wavelength in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) range.
  • IR infrared
  • UV-vis ultraviolet-visible
  • the optical emitter is 162 is configured to emit light A onto any suitable location on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 , for example, any radial position of the inlet face 141 and/or a midpoint location of the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the optical detector 164 is coupled to a second location of the housing 101 , for example, disposed through the wall of the housing 101 at the second location. The second location may be opposite the first location or may include any other suitable location of the housing 101 .
  • the optical detector 164 may be a photodiode, a pyroelectric detector, a photon detector, a photomultiplier tube or any other suitable optical detector.
  • the optical detector 164 is configured to detect light B reflected from the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the light is reflected diffusely.
  • the optical assembly 160 is operated on the principles of diffused reflectance.
  • An optical parameter (e.g., an intensity, a frequency, a wavelength, etc.) of the light B reflected from the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 corresponds to an amount of NO x gases or an amount of ammonia on the face of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the ammonia and/or NO x adsorbed on the inlet face 141 may absorb a portion of the emitted light A causing the reflected light B to have a lower intensity than the emitted light A, such that an absorbance (i.e., difference between intensity of the emitted and reflected light) corresponds to an amount of ammonia and/or NO gases present on the inlet face 141 .
  • the ammonia and NO adsorbed on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 may preferentially absorb light in the specific wavelength of the emitted light (e.g., particular IR wavelengths or particular UV-vis wavelengths), relative to other molecules adsorbed on the inlet face 141 (e.g., H 2 O, CO 2 , hydrocarbons, etc.) or materials forming the aftertreatment component 141 (e.g., catalyst materials, washcoat materials or binder materials).
  • absorbance peaks detected by the optical detector correspond to ammonia and/or NO adsorbed on the inlet face 141 .
  • the optical assembly 160 may selectively detect amount of ammonia and/or NO adsorbed on the inlet face.
  • the amount of ammonia on the inlet face 141 may correspond to an ammonia storage level of the aftertreatment component 140 (i.e., an amount of ammonia stored in SCR catalyst).
  • the amount of NO gases adsorbed on the inlet face 141 may correspond to a catalytic conversion efficiency of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the aftertreatment component 140 may include an AMO x catalyst.
  • the optical parameter of the detected light may correspond to an amount of ammonia adsorbed on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 , which may correspond to a catalytic conversion efficiency of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the aftertreatment system 100 also includes the controller 170 operatively coupled to the optical assembly 160 .
  • the controller 170 is communicatively coupled to the optical emitter 162 and configured to send an activation signal to the optical emitter 162 causing the optical emitter 162 to emit light.
  • the controller 170 may activate the optical emitter 162 at any suitable frequency, for example, every 1 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes or 10 minutes, inclusive of all ranges and values therebetween.
  • the controller 170 may be configured to activate (e.g., turn ON) the optical emitter 162 when the aftertreatment system 100 is activated, for example, when the engine 10 is turned ON, and deactivate (e.g., turn OFF) the optical emitter 162 when the aftertreatment system 100 is deactivated, for example, when the engine 10 is turned OFF.
  • the optical emitter 162 continuously emits light when the engine 10 is turned ON and the aftertreatment system 100 is active, so as to provide real time measurement of ammonia and/or NOR.
  • the controller 170 is also communicatively coupled to the optical detector 164 and configured to receive a detector signal therefrom.
  • the detector signal may include an electrical signal (e.g., a current or voltage) generated by the optical detector 164 , which corresponds to an optical parameter (e.g., intensity) of the detected light that has reflected from the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the controller 170 is configured to determine an amount of ammonia and/or NOR gases adsorbed on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 based on the optical parameter.
  • the controller 170 may be configured to determine the amount of NOR and/or ammonia gases (or otherwise any chemical species) on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 based on a difference between a parameter of the light emitted from the optical emitter 162 (e.g., a first intensity) and a parameter of the detected light that has reflected from the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the difference may be equal to an absorbance of the light by the NOR and/or ammonia on the inlet face 141 , and correspond to the amount of the NOR and/or ammonia adsorbed thereon.
  • optical assembly 160 or any other sensing assembly described herein are described as configured to detect ammonia and/or NOR gases adsorbed on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., a SCR catalyst), in other embodiments, the optical assembly 160 or any other optical assembly described herein may be configured to measure an amount of any other molecule adsorbed on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 , any other face of the aftertreatment component 140 or the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • Such molecules may include, for example, CO, CO 2 , SO x gases, etc.
  • the controller 170 may include algorithms or lookup tables configured to determine an amount of NOR and/or ammonia adsorbed over the entire volume of the aftertreatment component 140 based on the amount of NOR and/or ammonia on the inlet face 141 .
  • the controller 170 may be configured to determine an ammonia storage level of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the controller 170 may also include algorithms, equations or lookup tables to calibrate the optical assembly 160 to account for variations in exhaust gas parameters, for example, variations in exhaust temperatures, pressure or flow rate (e.g., determined based on engine speed and/or torque), and/or amount of water in the exhaust gas.
  • the exhaust gas parameters may be determined from exhaust gas parameter signals received from the engine 10 , the first sensor 103 and/or the second sensor 105 , or a virtual sensor.
  • the emitted light may have a wavelength in the infrared (IR) range.
  • IR light is sensitive to temperature, so the controller 170 may be configured to calibrate the optical parameter value determined from the detector signal based on one or more exhaust gas parameters, for example, the exhaust gas temperature (e.g., determined by the first sensor 103 ), an exhaust gas flow rate (e.g., determined from the engine speed and/or torque), an exhaust gas pressure and/or an amount of water in exhaust gas (e.g., determined by the first sensor 103 ), and accurately determine an amount of NO gases or ammonia on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the controller 170 may include signal filters (e.g., low pass filters, high pass filters, band pass filters, etc.) or any other suitable signal filters to filter noise from the detector signal.
  • the controller 170 may also be communicatively coupled to the reductant insertion assembly 120 .
  • the controller 170 may be configured to activate the reductant insertion assembly 120 based on the amount of NO gases and/or ammonia on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 . In this manner, the controller 170 may reduce reductant consumption, increase catalytic conversion efficiency of the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., an SCR catalyst or an AMO x catalyst) and/or reduce ammonia slip.
  • the aftertreatment component 140 e.g., an SCR catalyst or an AMO x catalyst
  • the controller 170 may be operatively coupled to optical assembly 160 and/or the reductant insertion assembly 120 using any type and any number of wired or wireless connections.
  • a wired connection may include a serial cable, a fiber optic cable, a CATS cable, or any other form of wired connection.
  • Wireless connections may include the Internet, Wi-Fi, cellular, radio, Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc.
  • a controller area network (CAN) bus provides the exchange of signals, information, and/or data.
  • the CAN bus includes any number of wired and wireless connections.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a control circuitry 171 that comprises the controller 170 , according to an embodiment.
  • the controller 170 comprises a processor 172 , a memory 174 , or any other computer readable medium, and a communication interface 176 .
  • the controller 170 includes an optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, an ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and a reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c. It should be understood that the controller 170 shows only one embodiment of the controller 170 and any other controller capable of performing the operations described herein can be used.
  • the processor 172 can comprise a microprocessor, programmable logic controller (PLC) chip, an ASIC chip, or any other suitable processor.
  • the processor 172 is in communication with the memory 174 and configured to execute instructions, algorithms, commands, or otherwise programs stored in the memory 174 .
  • the memory 174 comprises any of the memory and/or storage components discussed herein.
  • memory 174 may comprise a RAM and/or cache of processor 172 .
  • the memory 174 may also comprise one or more storage devices (e.g., hard drives, flash drives, computer readable media, etc.) either local or remote to controller 170 .
  • the memory 174 is configured to store look up tables, algorithms, or instructions.
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c are embodied as machine or computer-readable media (e.g., stored in the memory 174 ) that is executable by a processor, such as the processor 172 .
  • the machine-readable media e.g., the memory 174
  • the machine-readable media facilitates performance of certain operations to enable reception and transmission of data.
  • the machine-readable media may provide an instruction (e.g., command, etc.) to, e.g., acquire data.
  • the machine-readable media may include programmable logic that defines the frequency of acquisition of the data (or, transmission of the data).
  • the computer readable media may include code, which may be written in any programming language including, but not limited to, Java or the like and any conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.
  • the computer readable program code may be executed on one processor or multiple remote processors. In the latter scenario, the remote processors may be connected to each other through any type of network (e.g., CAN bus, etc.).
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c are embodied as hardware units, such as electronic control units.
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may be embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but not limited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheral devices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc.
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may take the form of one or more analog circuits, electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discrete circuits, system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, microcontrollers, etc.), telecommunication circuits, hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.”
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may include any type of component for accomplishing or facilitating achievement of the operations described herein.
  • a circuit as described herein may include one or more transistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR, etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors, diodes, wiring, and so on.
  • logic gates e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR, etc.
  • resistors e.g., resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors, diodes, wiring, and so on.
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may also include programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may include one or more memory devices for storing instructions that are executable by the processor(s) of the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c.
  • the one or more memory devices and processor(s) may have the same definition as provided below with respect to the memory 174 and the processor 172 .
  • the controller 170 includes the processor 172 and the memory 174 .
  • the processor 172 and the memory 174 may be structured or configured to execute or implement the instructions, commands, and/or control processes described herein with respect to the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c.
  • the depicted configuration represents the aforementioned arrangement where the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c are embodied as machine or computer-readable media.
  • optical assembly control circuitry 174 a the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c, or at least one circuit of the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c are configured as a hardware unit. All such combinations and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
  • the processor 172 may be implemented as one or more general-purpose processors, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digital signal processor (DSP), a group of processing components, or other suitable electronic processing components.
  • the one or more processors may be shared by multiple circuits (e.g., the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a, the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b and the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c ) may comprise or otherwise share the same processor which, in some example embodiments, may execute instructions stored, or otherwise accessed, via different areas of memory).
  • the one or more processors may be structured to perform or otherwise execute certain operations independent of one or more co-processors.
  • two or more processors may be coupled via a bus to enable independent, parallel, pipelined, or multi-threaded instruction execution. All such variations are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
  • the memory 174 e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash Memory, hard disk storage, etc.
  • the memory 174 may store data and/or computer code for facilitating the various processes described herein.
  • the memory 174 may be communicably connected to the processor 172 to provide computer code or instructions to the processor 172 for executing at least some of the processes described herein.
  • the memory 174 may be or include tangible, non-transient volatile memory or non-volatile memory. Accordingly, the memory 174 may include database components, object code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the various activities and information structures described herein.
  • the communication interface 176 may include wireless interfaces (e.g., jacks, antennas, transmitters, receivers, communication interfaces, wire terminals, etc.) for conducting data communications with various systems, devices, or networks.
  • the communication interface 176 may include an Ethernet card and port for sending and receiving data via an Ethernet-based communications network and/or a Wi-Fi communication interface for communicating with the engine 10 , the first sensor 103 , the second sensor 105 , the optical assembly 160 , the reductant insertion assembly 120 , or another controller (e.g., an engine control unit).
  • the communication interface 176 may be structured to communicate via local area networks or wide area networks (e.g., the Internet, etc.) and may use a variety of communications protocols (e.g., IP, LON, Bluetooth, ZigBee, radio, cellular, near field communication, etc.).
  • communications protocols e.g., IP, LON, Bluetooth, ZigBee, radio, cellular, near field communication, etc.
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a is configured to generate an activation signal configured to activate the optical emitter 162 .
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a may be configured to continuously activate the optical emitter 162 (e.g., for an entire period during which the aftertreatment system 100 is active) or activate the optical emitter 162 at a predetermined frequency, as previously described herein.
  • the optical assembly control circuitry 174 a is also configured to receive a detector signal from the optical detector 164 (e.g., an electrical signal such as a current or a voltage).
  • the detector signal corresponds to the optical parameter of the detected light (e.g., an intensity, frequency, wavelength, time of flight, etc.).
  • the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b is configured to interpret the detector signal and determine an amount of NO x and/or ammonia adsorbed on the inlet face 141 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b may include algorithms or look up tables configured to correlate a value of the optical parameter of the detected light (e.g., an intensity or absorbance) to an amount of ammonia and/or NO x on the inlet face 141 .
  • the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b may also be configured to receive one or more exhaust gas parameter signals, for example, from the engine 10 , the first sensor 103 and/or the second sensor 105 and determine one or more exhaust gas parameters (e.g., exhaust gas temperature, flow rate, pressure, amount of NO x gases in exhaust gas, etc.).
  • the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b may be configured to calibrate or adjust the detector signal based on the one or more exhaust gas parameters, as previously described herein.
  • the ammonia and NO x amount determination circuitry 174 b may also include one or more filters (e.g., low pass filters, high pass filters, band pass filters, etc.) to reduce noise and increase signal to noise ratio.
  • the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c is configured to generate a reductant insertion signal based on the amount of NO x gases and/or ammonia gases on a catalyst face 141 or in the exhaust gas.
  • the reductant insertion signal is configured to activate the reductant insertion assembly 120 for inserting a predetermined amount of reductant into the aftertreatment system 100 .
  • the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may activate the reductant insertion assembly 120 .
  • the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c of the controller 170 may be configured to instruct the reductant insertion assembly 120 to insert reductant into the exhaust gas. This causes reductant to be inserted into the exhaust gas which decomposes in the exhaust gas to generate ammonia.
  • the ammonia is adsorbed by the aftertreatment component 140 increasing the amount of ammonia stored in the aftertreatment component 140 towards the ammonia storage threshold.
  • the ammonia and NO amount determination circuitry 174 b may determine that an amount of NO on the inlet face 141 is above a predetermined NO x threshold, which may indicate that the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., a SCR catalyst) is operating at a lower than optimal catalytic conversion efficiency.
  • the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may activate the reductant insertion assembly 120 , for example, instruct the reductant insertion assembly 120 to insert reductant into the exhaust gas, to increase the amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas so as to increase the catalytic conversion efficiency.
  • the ammonia and NO amount determination circuitry 174 b may determine that the amount of ammonia adsorbed in the aftertreatment component 140 is above a predetermined ammonia threshold, which may correspond to aftertreatment component 140 operating at a lower than optimal catalytic conversion efficiency causing ammonia slip downstream of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may deactivate the reductant insertion assembly 120 to reduce the amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas so as to reduce ammonia slip downstream of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may instruct the reductant insertion assembly 120 to stop inserting reductant into the exhaust gas.
  • the optical emitter 162 may be configured to direct the emitted light A towards an outlet face 153 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • the upstream aftertreatment component 150 may include a SCR catalyst and the optical assembly 160 may be configured to sense an amount of ammonia and/or NO gases on the outlet face 153 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • the information may be used to determine, for example, an ammonia storage level of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 (e.g., a SCR catalyst), a catalytic conversion efficiency of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 or an ammonia slip through the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • an ammonia storage level of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 e.g., a SCR catalyst
  • a catalytic conversion efficiency of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 e.g., a SCR catalyst
  • the optical assembly 160 may be configured to measure an amount of ammonia and/or NO on an outlet face 143 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system 200 , according to another embodiment.
  • the aftertreatment system 200 is substantially similar to the aftertreatment system 100 with the following differences.
  • the optical assembly 160 is positioned in the housing 101 downstream of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the optical emitter 162 is configured to direct emitted light A towards the outlet face 143 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the optical detector 164 may be located opposite the optical emitter 162 and detects light B reflected from the outlet face 143 of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the controller 170 may then be configured to determine an amount of ammonia and/or NO gases on the outlet face 143 of the aftertreatment component 140 based on the optical parameter of the reflected light B, as previously described herein.
  • the optical assembly 160 may be configured to detect an ammonia storage level of the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., a SCR catalyst), a catalytic conversion efficiency of the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., an AMO x catalyst), or an ammonia slip downstream of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the optical assembly 160 may be configured to measure an amount of ammonia or NO gases on an inlet face 151 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system 300 , according to yet another embodiment.
  • the aftertreatment system 300 is substantially similar to the aftertreatment system 100 with the difference that the optical assembly 160 is disposed upstream of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 (e.g., an upstream SCR catalyst).
  • the optical emitter 162 is configured to direct the emitted light A onto an inlet face 151 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • the optical detector 164 is located opposite the optical emitter 162 and configured to detect light B reflected from the inlet face 151 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • the controller 170 may be configured to determine an amount of ammonia and/or NO x on the inlet face 151 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 based on the optical parameter of the reflected light B and determine, for example, an ammonia storage level or NO x conversion efficiency of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 therefrom.
  • determining the amount of ammonia on the inlet face 151 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 may also be used to determine a uniformity index (UI) and/or flow distribution index (FDI) of the reductant in the exhaust gas.
  • UI uniformity index
  • FDI flow distribution index
  • an aftertreatment system may include an optical assembly configured to detect an amount of ammonia in an exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system 400 , according to an embodiment.
  • the aftertreatment system 400 is substantially similar to the aftertreatment system 100 with the following differences.
  • An optical assembly 260 is positioned between the aftertreatment component 140 and the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • the optical assembly 260 includes an optical emitter 262 and an optical detector 264 .
  • the optical emitter 262 is configured to emit light A through the exhaust gas
  • the optical detector 264 is configured to detect light B that has passed through the exhaust gas.
  • the controller 170 may be communicatively coupled to the optical emitter 262 and the optical detector 264 (e.g., via electrical couplers included in an optical probe 269 housing the optical emitter 262 an the optical detector 264 ) and determine an amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas based on an optical parameter of the detected light B that has passed through the exhaust gas, as previously described herein with respect to the optical assembly 160 . While described as being configured to detect ammonia, the optical assembly 260 may be configured to detect any constituent of the exhaust gas (e.g., CO, NO x gases, SOX gases, etc.).
  • any constituent of the exhaust gas e.g., CO, NO x gases, SOX gases, etc.
  • the optical emitter 262 and the optical detector 264 are both located at a first location of the housing 101 , for example, disposed adjacent to each other at the first location on a wall of the housing 101 .
  • the optical emitter 262 and the optical detector 264 may be integrated in the optical probe 269 .
  • a first mirror 266 is disposed at a second location of the housing 101 and coupled thereto. The second location may be opposite the first location and in a line of sight of the first location.
  • the first mirror 266 may include a concave mirror configured to reflect light B towards the optical detector 264 , which is detected by the optical detector 264 .
  • the optical emitter 262 may include a specular light emitter (e.g., an IR laser device, a UV-vis laser device, or a light-emitting diode (LED)).
  • the optical emitter 262 emits light A (e.g., specular light rays) through the exhaust gas towards the first mirror 266 .
  • the first mirror 266 reflects the light B that has passed through the exhaust gas towards the optical detector 264 , which is then detected by the optical detector 264 .
  • a second mirror 268 may be positioned at the first location around optical emitter 262 and the optical detector 264 .
  • openings may be defined in the second mirror 268 through which the optical emitter 262 and the optical detector 264 may be positioned.
  • a single opening may be defined in the second mirror 268 , for example, at a midpoint of the second mirror 268 (e.g., a concave mirror) and the optical probe 269 housing both the optical emitter 262 and the optical detector 264 may be inserted there.
  • the second mirror 268 reflects at least a portion of the light reflected from the first mirror 266 back towards the first mirror 266 .
  • the effective path length may be substantially greater than a cross-section of the housing 101 .
  • the housing 101 may have a cross-section (e.g., a diameter) of 10-20 inches, and the effective path length of the light may be up to 3 meters. Increasing the path length causes the light to pass through the exhaust gas multiple times. This increases the sensitivity of the ammonia measurement, as well as increases the probability of the light reaching the optical detector 264 .
  • optical detector 264 may be positioned at the second location opposite the first location such that the mirrors 266 and 268 may be excluded.
  • the emitted light may have sufficient intensity and the optical detector 264 may have sufficient sensitivity to detect change in optical parameter of the exhaust gas after passing only once through the exhaust gas.
  • an optical assembly may also include a sampling member to sample exhaust gas at various locations of the exhaust gas flow. The emitted light is passed through the sampled portions of the exhaust gas so that a better representation of the amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas may be obtained.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an optical assembly 360 .
  • the optical assembly 360 is substantially similar to the optical assembly 260 and includes similar components.
  • a sampling tube 280 extends from the second mirror 268 to the first mirror 266 .
  • the sampling tube 280 may include a hollow tube having a circular cross-section.
  • a plurality of holes 282 are defined through a wall of the sampling tube 280 and are configured to allow a portion of the exhaust gas to pass through the hollow sampling tube 280 .
  • the sampling tube 280 may have a length corresponding to a cross-section (e.g., diameter) of the housing 101 .
  • the sampling tube 280 may be coupled at its respective axial ends to the mirrors 266 and 268 such that the optical assembly 360 forms an integrated ammonia detection probe insertable into the housing 101 to be positioned within the exhaust gas flow path.
  • the optical emitter 262 Light emitted by the optical emitter 262 is directed through the hollow sampling tube 280 towards the first mirror 266 , and is reflected therefrom towards the optical detector 264 , as previously described herein. Furthermore, any light bouncing off the first mirror 266 at an angle away from the optical detector 264 is reflected back towards the optical detector 264 by an inner surface 281 the sampling tube 280 .
  • the inner surface 281 of the sampling tube 280 may be coated with a reflective material (e.g., silver/silver chloride) to facilitate reflection.
  • FIG. 6 shows the optical assembly 360 as including the cylindrical sampling tube 280 .
  • the optical assembly 360 may include any other sampling structure.
  • the optical assembly 360 may include an exhaust gas sampling wheel structured to be positioned within the exhaust gas flow path for sampling portions of the exhaust gas.
  • the exhaust gas sampling wheel may include a circular baffle like structure.
  • the exhaust gas sampling wheel may include a cross shaped structure having plurality of holes defined through each arm of the cross shaped structure. It should be appreciated that these embodiments are just examples, and in other embodiments, the sampling structure may have any other suitable shape, for example, elliptical, triangular, polygonal, star shaped, etc.
  • the optical assembly 260 may be positioned in an aftertreatment system so as to measure an amount of ammonia in exhaust gas downstream of an aftertreatment component.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an aftertreatment system 500 , according to another embodiment.
  • the aftertreatment system 500 is substantially similar to the aftertreatment system 400 , except that the optical assembly 260 is positioned downstream of the aftertreatment component 140 .
  • the optical assembly 260 therefore measures an amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas downstream of the aftertreatment component 140 which may correspond to an ammonia slip of the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., in embodiments in which the aftertreatment component 140 includes a SCR catalyst) or a catalytic conversion efficiency of the aftertreatment component 140 (e.g., in embodiments in which the aftertreatment component 140 includes an AMO x catalyst).
  • FIG. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of an example method 600 for determining an amount of NO and/or ammonia on a face of an aftertreatment component (e.g., the aftertreatment component 140 , 150 ) included in an aftertreatment system (e.g., the aftertreatment system 100 , 200 , 300 , 400 , 500 ), or an amount of ammonia in an exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system using an optical assembly (e.g., the optical assembly 160 , 260 , 360 ).
  • an aftertreatment component e.g., the aftertreatment component 140 , 150
  • an optical assembly e.g., the optical assembly 160 , 260 , 360
  • the method 600 includes emitting light onto at least one of a face of the aftertreatment component, or through the exhaust gas, at 602 .
  • the optical emitter 162 may emit light A onto the inlet face 141 or the outlet face 143 of the aftertreatment component 140 , or onto the inlet face 151 or outlet face 153 of the upstream aftertreatment component 150 .
  • the optical emitter 262 may emit light A though the exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system 400 , 500 .
  • At 604 at least one of light reflected from the face of the aftertreatment component, or light after passing through the exhaust gas is detected.
  • optical detector 164 may detect light B reflected from the corresponding face of the aftertreatment component 140 , 150 and/or the optical detector 264 may detect light B after passing through the exhaust gas.
  • an exhaust gas parameter may be determined, at 606 .
  • the ammonia and NOR amount determination circuitry 174 b may be configured to receive one or more exhaust gas parameter signals from the engine 10 , the first sensor 103 or the second sensor 105 and determine the exhaust gas parameters (e.g., exhaust gas temperature, pressure, flow rate, amount of NO gases therein, etc.)
  • the exhaust gas parameters e.g., exhaust gas temperature, pressure, flow rate, amount of NO gases therein, etc.
  • the ammonia and NOR amount determination circuitry 174 b may be configured to interpret a detector signal received from the optical detector 164 , 264 and determine the amount of ammonia and/or NOR on the corresponding face of the aftertreatment component 140 , 150 , and/or amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas based on an optical parameter (e.g., intensity) of the detected light.
  • an optical parameter e.g., intensity
  • the amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas is determined (e.g., by the ammonia and NOR amount determination circuitry 174 b ) based on a difference between a parameter (e.g., a first intensity) of the light emitted from the optical emitter 162 , 262 and a parameter (e.g., a second intensity) of the detected light that has reflected from the corresponding face of the aftertreatment component 140 , 150 , or has passed through the exhaust gas.
  • the difference may correspond to an absorbance, which corresponds to the amount of ammonia and/or NOR.
  • the exhaust gas parameters may be used to calibrate the optical parameter of the detected light. For example, various exhaust gas parameters such as temperature may impact the optical measurement. The portion of the optical parameter attributed to the variations in the exhaust gas parameter may be subtracted from the detector signal, or the optical parameter values may be normalized using one or more of the exhaust parameter value.
  • an amount of reductant inserted into the exhaust gas is adjusted.
  • the reductant insertion control circuitry 174 c may selectively activate the reductant insertion assembly 120 to adjust an amount of reductant inserted into the exhaust gas based on the amount of ammonia and/or NOR gases on the corresponding face of the aftertreatment component 140 , 150 , or the amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system 100 , 200 , 300 , 400 , 500 .
  • Coupled means the joining of two members directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary (e.g., permanent) or moveable (e.g., removable or releasable). Such joining may be achieved with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being attached to one another.
  • the term “about” generally mean plus or minus 10% of the stated value. For example, about 0.5 would include 0.45 and 0.55, about 10 would include 9 to 11, about 1000 would include 900 to 1100.

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CN112739890B (zh) 2022-11-11
US11578634B2 (en) 2023-02-14
WO2020060688A1 (fr) 2020-03-26
CN112739890A (zh) 2021-04-30
DE112019004719T5 (de) 2021-06-02

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