Feasibility study on a vehicular thermoelectric generator coupled to an exhaust gas heater to improve aftertreatments efficiency in cold-starts

摘要

Low exhaust gas temperatures of internal combustion engines, resulting from cold-starts, low loads or low temperature ambient conditions, can compromise the performance of the automotive aftertreatment system. In this situation, the engine is running far from its design point, with a very low performance of the catalytic converter since it has not reached its optimal temperature. This effect can result in more than 20% of the total emissions for nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) during a driving cycle.