Internal combustion engine exhaust after-treatment system and method

1. An internal combustion engine comprising an exhaust system through which exhaust gas created by combustion in engine combustion chambers passes to atmosphere and which comprises an after-treatment system that treats the exhaust gas before the exhaust gas leaves the exhaust system, wherein the after-treatment system comprises:

an exhaust flow path having an entrance through which exhaust gas enters the after-treatment system and an exit through which exhaust gas exits the after-treatment system;

an SCR catalyst disposed in the exhaust flow path;

partition wall structure that is disposed in the exhaust flow path upstream of the SCR catalyst to define multiple independent channels for separating exhaust gas flowing toward the SCR catalyst into multiple detached exhaust gas flow streams;

for each independent channel, at least one respective data port via which data for at least one characteristic of a respective detached exhaust gas flow stream can be obtained;

for each independent channel, a respective reductant port through which reductant can be introduced into a respective detached exhaust gas flow stream;

a reductant supply system;

and a processor for processing data from at least one data port for each respective independent channel and for using a result of the processing of data from at least one data port for each respective independent channel to cause an appropriate quantity of reductant from the reductant supply system to be introduced into the respective detached exhaust gas flow stream to create a resulting mixture for enabling the SCR catalyst to reduce NOx in the mixture without contributing a significant excess of reductant to flow leaving the SCR catalyst.

2. The engine as set forth in claim 1 in which a respective data port for each respective independent channel comprises a respective temperature sensor for providing temperature data for the respective detached exhaust gas flow stream.

3. The engine as set forth in claim 1 in which a respective data port for each respective independent channel comprises a respective NOx sensor for providing NOx data for the respective detached exhaust gas flow stream.

4. The engine as set forth in claim 1 in which a respective first data port for each respective independent channel comprises a respective temperature sensor for providing temperature data for the respective detached exhaust gas flow stream and a respective second data port for each respective independent channel comprises a respective NOx sensor for providing NOx data for the respective detached exhaust gas flow stream.

5. The engine as set forth in claim 4 wherein each NOx sensor is disposed downstream of the respective temperature sensor for the same detached exhaust gas flow stream.

6. The engine as set forth in claim 5 wherein the respective reductant port through which reductant can be introduced into a respective detached exhaust gas flow stream is disposed downstream of the respective NOx sensor for the same detached exhaust gas flow stream.

7. The engine as set forth in claim 6 wherein the partition wall structure comprises walls that define the independent channels as straight parallel independent channels through which the respective detached exhaust gas streams flow, each of the data ports which comprises a temperature sensor has an opening to the respective independent channel that lies substantially in a common first plane that is transverse to exhaust gas flow through the independent channels, each of the data ports which comprises a NOx sensor has an opening to the respective independent channel that lies substantially in a common second plane that is transverse to exhaust gas flow through the independent channels, and each of the reductant ports through which reductant can be introduced into a respective detached exhaust gas flow stream has an opening to the respective independent channel that lies substantially in a common third plane that is transverse to exhaust gas flow through the independent channels.

8. The engine as set forth in claim 7 wherein the independent channels have substantially equal transverse cross sectional areas along their lengths.

9. The engine as set forth in claim 8 wherein the partition wall structure comprises a central wall defining a central cylindrical independent channel through which one detached exhaust gas stream can flow and other walls defining a succession of arcuate independent channels which circumferentially surround the central wall and through each of which a respective detached exhaust gas stream can flow.

10. The engine as set forth in claim 8 wherein the partition wall structure comprises a central zone containing walls that divide the central zone into side-by-side sectors of a circle each defining a respective independent channel through which a respective detached exhaust gas stream can flow and other walls defining a succession of arcuate independent channels which circumferentially surround the central zone and through each of which a respective detached exhaust gas stream can flow.

11. The engine as set forth in claim 1 further including downstream partition wall structure defining multiple downstream independent channels disposed in the exhaust flow path downstream of the SCR catalyst for separating exhaust gas flowing away from the SCR catalyst into multiple downstream detached flow streams, and for each downstream independent channel, at least one data port via which data about at least one characteristic of each downstream detached flow stream is provided to the processor, a respective data port for each downstream independent channel comprising a respective sensor for providing data for a characteristic of the respective downstream detached flow stream.

12. An engine exhaust after-treatment device for reducing NOx content in engine exhaust gas comprising:

an exhaust flow path having an entrance through which exhaust gas enters the device and an exit through which exhaust gas exits the device;

an SCR catalyst disposed in the exhaust flow path;

partition wall structure defining multiple independent channels for separating exhaust gas flowing toward the SCR catalyst into multiple detached exhaust gas flow streams;

for each independent channel, at least one respective data port via which data about at least one characteristic of a respective detached exhaust gas flow stream can be obtained;

and for each independent channel, a respective reductant port through which reductant can be introduced into a respective detached exhaust gas flow stream;

a reductant supply system;

and a processor for processing data from each respective data port and for using a result of the processing of data from each respective data port to cause an appropriate quantity of reductant from the reductant supply system to be introduced into the respective detached exhaust gas flow stream to create a resulting mixture for enabling the SCR catalyst to reduce NOx in the mixture without contributing a significant excess of reductant to flow leaving the SCR catalyst.

13. The device as set forth in claim 12 further including downstream partition wall structure defining multiple downstream independent channels disposed in the exhaust flow path downstream of the SCR catalyst for separating exhaust gas flowing away from the SCR catalyst into multiple downstream detached flow streams, and for each downstream independent channel, at least one data port via which data for at least one characteristic of each downstream detached flow stream is provided to the processor, a respective data port for each downstream independent channel comprising a respective sensor for providing data for a characteristic of the respective downstream detached flow stream.

14. The device as set forth in claim 13 wherein the at least one data port via which data for at least one characteristic of each downstream detached flow stream can be obtained comprises a temperature sensor for providing temperature data for the respective downstream detached flow stream, a NOx sensor for providing NOx data for the respective downstream detached flow stream, and an ammonia sensor for providing ammonia data for the respective downstream detached flow stream.

15. A method for treating exhaust gas flowing through an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine which comprises an SCR catalyst disposed in an exhaust flow path, the method comprising:

causing exhaust gas flowing in the exhaust flow path toward the SCR catalyst to separate into multiple upstream detached exhaust gas flow streams;

obtaining data for at least one characteristic of each respective upstream detached exhaust gas flow stream;

causing exhaust gas flowing in the exhaust flow path away from the SCR catalyst to separate into multiple downstream detached exhaust gas flow streams;

obtaining data for a characteristic of each downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream via a respective data port at a respective downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream;

and controlling introduction of reductant into each upstream detached exhaust gas flow stream by processing data obtained for at least one characteristic of the respective upstream detached exhaust gas flow stream and data obtained for a characteristic of a downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream via a respective data port at a respective downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15 wherein the step of obtaining data for a characteristic of each downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream comprises obtaining one of ammonia data, temperature data and NOx data for a respective downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream.

17. The engine as set forth in claim 11 in which a sensor for providing data for a characteristic of a respective downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream comprises a NOx sensor for providing NOx data for a respective downstream detached exhaust gas flow stream.

18. The engine as set forth in claim 11 in which a sensor for providing data for a characteristic of a respective downstream detached flow stream comprises a temperature sensor for providing temperature data for a respective downstream detached flow stream.

19. The engine as set forth in claim 11 in which a sensor for providing data for a characteristic of a respective downstream detached flow stream comprises an ammonia sensor for providing ammonia data for a respective downstream detached flow stream.