Abstract
The thermal insulation performance of exhaust pipes coated with various materials (basalt and glass fiber materials) under different braiding forms (sleeve, winding and felt types) and the effects on the emission characteristics of diesel engines were experimentally studied through engine bench tests. The results indicated that the thermal insulation performance of basalt fiber was higher than that of glass fiber, and more notably advantageous at the early stage of the diesel engine idle cold phase. The average temperature drop during the first 600 s of the basalt felt (BF) pipe was 2.6 °C smaller than that of the glass fiber felt (GF) pipe. Comparing the different braiding forms, the temperature decrease in the felt-type braided material was 2.6 °C and 2.9 °C smaller than that in the sleeve- and winding-type braided materials, respectively. The basalt material was better than the glass fiber material regarding the gaseous pollutant emission reduction performance, especially in the idling cold phase of diesel engines. The NO(x) conversion rate of the BF pipe was 7.4% higher than that of the GF pipe, and the hydrocarbon (HC) conversion rate was 2.3% higher than that of the GF pipe, while the CO conversion rate during the first 100 s was 24.5% higher than that of the GF pipe. However, the particulate matter emissions were not notably different.