Engine system having recuperated catalyst in exhaust system and method
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsDavid Todd Montgomery, Daniel Bryan Olsen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An engine system includes a reciprocating engine, and an exhaust system having a catalyst module, an exhaust heater, and an exhaust recuperator. The catalyst module receives a flow of incoming exhaust through the recuperator, and outputs a flow of outgoing exhaust through the recuperator to exchange heat with the flow of incoming exhaust. The exhaust heater may include a gaseous fuel burner and is arranged to input heat energy to at least one of the flow of incoming exhaust or the flow of outgoing exhaust to increase catalyst efficiency. The engine system may be a gaseous fuel engine system and the catalyst an oxidation catalyst to oxidize methane.
Claims20
An engine system comprising:
- an engine including an engine housing having a plurality of cylinders formed therein;
- an exhaust system including a catalyst module, an exhaust heater, and an exhaust recuperator having a first recuperator inlet, a second recuperator inlet, and a plurality of heat exchange surfaces;
- the catalyst module having a module inlet arranged to receive a flow of incoming exhaust fed to the first recuperator inlet and then into and through the recuperator, and a module outlet arranged to feed a flow of outgoing exhaust to the second recuperator inlet and then into and through the recuperator to exchange heat with the flow of incoming exhaust via the plurality of heat exchange surfaces;
- and
- the exhaust heater is arranged to input heat energy to at least one of the flow of incoming exhaust being fed to the first recuperator inlet or the flow of outgoing exhaust being fed to the second recuperator inlet.
An exhaust system for an engine comprising:
- a recuperator forming an exhaust conduit incoming segment and an exhaust conduit outgoing segment, and including a first recuperator inlet, a second recuperator inlet, and a plurality of heat exchange surfaces;
- a catalyst module having a module inlet arranged to receive a flow of incoming exhaust fed to the first recuperator inlet and then into and through the recuperator, and a module outlet arranged to feed the flow of outgoing exhaust to the second recuperator inlet and then into and through the recuperator to exchange heat with the flow of incoming exhaust via the plurality of heat exchange surfaces;
- and
- an exhaust heater arranged to input heat energy to at least one of the flow of incoming exhaust being fed to the first recuperator inlet or the flow of outgoing exhaust being fed to the second recuperator inlet.
A method of operating an engine system comprising:
- combusting a fuel in a plurality of cylinders in an engine to produce exhaust;
- feeding an incoming flow of exhaust to a first inlet of a recuperator and then into and through the recuperator to a catalyst;
- feeding an outgoing flow of exhaust from the catalyst to a second inlet of the recuperator and then into and through the recuperator;
- exchanging heat in the recuperator between the incoming flow of exhaust and the outgoing flow of exhaust;
- and
- inputting additional heat energy to at least one of the incoming flow of exhaust being fed to the first inlet of the recuperator or the outgoing flow of exhaust being fed to the second inlet of the recuperator so as to increase a temperature of the incoming flow of the exhaust fed to the catalyst.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.