Particulate Traps with Catalytic Coating : IPSY Project

The FP6 project IPSY (2007-2009) worked on catalytic coating of Diesel particulate traps having in mind the future Diesel engine operating partially in HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) mode and efficiency increasing in a way that low exhaust temperatures would make it difficult to regenerate the particle filter on the one hand side and controlling NOx on the other.

The project developed innovative simulation models of wall-flow filters differentiating between deep-bed filtering, soot-cake build up and regeneration, continuous and intermittent.

Exploitation of the project results took place obviously as catalytic coated diesel particle filter (DPF) in vehicles with diesel engines. Today, most heavy-duty vehicles and many passenger cars deploy a catalytic coated DPF mitigating emissions with, as intended by the technology, minimal impact on fuel economy. Coatings either deal with oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (HC) or with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitric oxides (NO_x), depending how near to the engine the DPF is installed. Hence the technology fulfils its aim of improving the environmental impact of diesel propelled vehicles.

But beyond, in response to the stringency of Euro 6 regulations and lately with the introduction of WLTP driving cycle and RDE analysis, also cars with petrol engines started to deploy catalytically coated particulate filters in the second half of the 2010s[i]. In this case the filters carry three-way catalyst coatings. As these aftertreatment devices reduce not only NO_x, CO and HC, but also capture and convert particulate matter, they are sometimes referred to as four-way catalysts.

This indicates that the work in IPSY and possible successor projects

[i] Ricardo Suarez-Bertoa , Tero Lähde, Jelica Pavlovic, Victor Valverde, Michael Clairotte and Barouch Giechaskiel: “Laboratory and On-Road Evaluation of a GPF-Equipped Gasoline Vehicle”
In:  Catalysts 2019, 9, 678; doi:10.3390/catal9080678.