Petrol engines presently employ three - way catalytic converters that offer NOx reduction rates as high as99 per cent, but this performance is possible only at
the stoichiometric air fuel ratio.
Not exact matches
the problem is that the
stoichiometric ratio (efficiency ratio) for (fossil) gasoline is 14.7 parts
air to 1 part
fuel.
When this happens, the
air /
fuel mixture becomes outside of what is ideal, and perhaps outside of what is even
stoichiometric.
Don't forget that under
stoichiometric conditions (which all engine manufacturers strive to run at), the
air:
fuel ratio is quite high (14:1).
Theoretically, a
stoichiometric mixture has just enough
air to completely burn the available
fuel.
As conventional catalytic converters require a
stoichiometric fuel -
air mixture (lambda = 1), but stratified charge operation uses high excess
air (lambda > 1), the CLS 350 CGI is equipped with two NOx storage - type catalytic converters.
This not only helps to suppress catalyst deterioration, but also expands driving range at the optimum,
stoichiometric air -
fuel ratio.