Heat management specialist Zircotec is conducting R&D into exhaust system development as OEMs look to increase internal exhaust temperatures to improve emissions performance, while reducing external exhaust temperatures to meet safety legislation.
With internal temperatures in some systems reaching in excess of 700°C, the maximum external temperature is currently set at 480°C. However, new regulation could limit this to 70°C.
“Heat management is easy if the only requirement is to reduce heat loss and you have enough space to install sufficient insulation; however, that just isn’t the case in most applications,” said Graeme Barette, sales director at Zircotec.
“Conventional insulation would typically need to be up to 70mm thick to achieve the thermal barrier performance required. There is no room for such a thickness even with commercial vehicles, without re-routing the exhaust line and introducing knock-on effects that compromise other systems and overall packaging, to say nothing of the cost involved.”
Thanks to new research projects, the company is using its ceramic thermal barrier technology in innovative applications. By reducing heat transfer from the hot exhaust gas to the outer containment, the system is able to maintain exhaust gas temperatures, meaning faster cold-starts and system warm-up.