Abstract—Stringent emission regulations around the world necessitate the use of high-efficiency catalytic converters in vehicle exhaust systems. Therefore, determining the optimum geometry of the honeycomb monolith structure is necessary. This structure requires a high surface area for treating gases while maintaining a low pressure drop in the engine. In the present paper, an adapted sub-grid scale modeling is used to predict the pressure loss of square- and hexagonal-cell-shaped honeycomb monoliths. This sub-grid scale modeling represents the actual variations in the pressure drop between the inlet and outlet for various combinations of wall thickness and cell density. A comparison is made between the experimental and numerical results established in literature. The present approach is found to provide better and more comprehensive results than the single channel technique.

Index Terms—Catalytic converter, honeycomb monolith, pressure loss, sub-grid scale modeling.

Shahrin Hisham Amirnordin, Suzairin Md Seri, Wan Saiful-Islam Wan Salim, Hamimah Abd Rahman, and Khalid Hasnan are with the Automotive Research Group (ARG), Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), 86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia (e-mail: shahrin@ uthm.edu.my).

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Cite: Shahrin Hisham Amirnordin, Suzairin Md Seri, Wan Saiful-Islam Wan Salim, Hamimah Abd Rahman, and Khalid Hasnan, "Pressure Drop Analysis of Square and Hexagonal Cellsand its Effects on the Performance of Catalytic Converters," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 239-247, 2011.