Internal combustion engine comprising a small-volume catalytic converter

摘要

A combustion engine assembly includes a combustion engine with a displacement and a downstream catalytic converter for cleaning exhaust gas. The catalytic converter has a geometric surface and an effectiveness for converting at least one harmful component in the exhaust gas into harmless components. The catalytic converter has at least one honeycomb body, all of which together have a total volume. The volume is selected in such a way that it is smaller than the displacement by a factor of 0.6. However, the geometric surface is dimensioned in such a way that the catalytic converter has an effectiveness of more than 98%. The honeycomb body is preferably a metallic honeycomb body formed of layered and/or wound and at least partly structured sheet metal layers. Channels of the honeycomb body are separated from one another by channel walls. An average thickness of the channel walls is at most 40 micrometers, preferably at most 35 micrometers and in particular between 18 and 32 micrometers. The number of channels of the honeycomb body over a cross-section through the body is at least 600 cpsi. Small volume, particularly cost-effective honeycomb bodies can be provided in this way.