Effectiveness of non-noble metal based diesel oxidation catalysts on particle number emissions from diesel and biodiesel exhaust.

Two new formulations of non-noble metal based diesel oxidation catalysts based on CoCe based mixed oxide (DOC2) and perovskite catalysts (DOC3) were prepared and retrofitted in a 4-cylinder diesel engine fueled by diesel and Karanja biodiesel blend (KB20). In this study, their effectiveness in reducing raw exhaust particulate emissions vis-à-vis a commercial diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC1) was evaluated. Emission characteristics such as particle number-size distribution, mass-size distribution, and surface area-size distribution, total particle number concentration and count mean diameter as a function of engine load at constant engine speed were evaluated. Variations in total particle number concentration as a function of engine speed were also determined. The prepared DOCs and the commercial DOC showed varying degrees of performance as a function of engine operating conditions. Overall, effectiveness of the prepared DOC's appeared to be more fuel specific. For diesel exhaust, overall performance of DOC1 was more effective compared to both prepared DOCs, with DOC2 being superior to DOC3. In case of KB20 exhaust, the overall performance of DOC2 was either more effective or nearly comparable to DOC1, while DOC3 being not so effective. This showed that the DOCs based on CoCe based mixed oxide catalysts have potential to replace commercial noble metal based DOC's, especially in engines fueled by biodiesel.