Wanted: Better Diesel Fuel On-Board Reductant Reformer for NOx Trap Regeneration

Diesel Fuel News, Sept 17, 2001

Cummins estimates a hefty 6.5% fuel penalty when trying to create hydrogen reductant for light-duty vehicle NOx trap regeneration, according to a modeling exercise. Onboard reformers, typically used in fuel cells, eventually might work out in diesel emissions control, but the right diesel reformer still hasn't been found, as Cummins researcher Rahul Mital showed at DEER.

"The major problem we have right now is that no-one seems to have an operational diesel reformer," Mital told us. "So we are trying to obtain one ... plus we hope to test the Plasmatron (from Massachusetts Institute of Technology) soon." Reformers for diesel, unlike some other fuels, have special issues with possible coking, although a cleanup step can be added -- but with an. energy penalty. Electric heating to raise NOx trap temps to a suitable window for NOx conversion also would mean about a 6% fuel penalty, the study found.