The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 25, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 21, 2000
Mohinder Singh Chattha, Northville, MI (US);
Jun (John) Li, Canton, MI (US);
William Lewis Henderson Watkins, Toledo, OH (US);
Amy Berris, Berkley, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, Inc., Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
The invention is a method of treating exhaust gases generated by an internal combustion engine using a NO trap in the exhaust flow system. The method comprises locating a nitrogen oxide trap in the exhaust gas passage and cycling the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases entering the trap between lean and rich, such that the trap absorbs nitrogen oxides during the lean cycle and desorbs the nitrogen oxides when the concentration of the oxygen in the exhaust flow is lowered as during a rich cycle. The trap comprises: (a) a porous support material comprising mostly &ggr;-alumina; (b) a sulfur-suppressing metal selected from the group consisting of cesium, zinc and a combination of cesium and zinc; (c) a precious metal; and (d) a NO sorption metal such as barium, the metals being deposited in the support material, the amount of the metals being individually dependent on the weight of the support material. The desorbed nitrogen oxides may be converted over the precious metal to N by reductants like hydrogen, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide present in the exhaust gas.