Diesel Particulate Matter Filtration using Aerogels

Diesel engines release Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM). DPM is a pollutant composed of a complex mixture of very small particles of unburned fuel, lube oil, ash, sulfates, and water; and there are also traces of carcinogens such as benzene and formaldehyde. DPM poses significant risk to human health and the environment. Aerogels have unique properties (high surface area, low density, and low thermal conductivity) that make them potentially very well suited for the catalyzation and filtration of gas phase and particulate exhaust pollutants. In order to study the interaction between aerogels and DPM, a method of exposing the aerogels to DPM in a controllable way needed to be developed. To avoid the inconsistency and impracticality of using a real engine in the lab a DPM generator was developed to simulate the DPM exhaust of a diesel engine. Aerogels are placed in the simulated exhaust made by this generator, the soot DPM is captured and measured for aerogels of different chemical composition (Silica, etc.). This poster presents recent improvements made to the aerogel DPM filtration test bed and experimental methods used to quantify aerogel DPM filtration performance. Alongside these developments, due to the advent of coronavirus, a different direction for the project was taken after the campus was closed and access to the laboratory was no longer possible. Research was done to pinpoint typical vehicle specifications for both light and heavy-duty diesel engines in today market, as well as defining a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) model based upon thermal, fluid, mass, and momentum mechanics. This model was then used to designate important variables based upon the filter medium, and examine how these variables will function with the change from conventional DPM materials to Aerogels. This model helps to generate simulated outputs for proposed aerogel DPMs , and will work to help corroborate experimental data when we are able to get back into the lab.