Under strict emission regulations, brands and car owners in the global automotive market are discussing GPF particulate filters, which are devices installed inside the exhaust pipe to filter carbon particles, just like engine masks, which can reduce pollution. For supercars, GPF will reduce the sound of the vehicle; for ordinary family cars, GPF particulate filters are prone to clogging, and manufacturers have also introduced an automatic cleaning method called "regeneration". So what is regeneration? How to prevent clogging, let's analyze it in detail below.

What is "regeneration"?

Much like a diesel particulate filter, a GPF is made of a synthetic ceramic material with a honeycomb filter structure inside. Every filter, no matter what it is designed to collect, must be cleaned and emptied periodically so that there is room to continue collecting more. This process of cleaning and emptying the particulate filter is called GPF regeneration.

The regeneration method is also very simple, which is to burn the carbon particles collected in the particle trap for the second time to ensure that the filter will not be blocked and can continue to capture more carbon particles for recycling. The particle trap usually needs to be heated to a very high temperature to burn off the carbon particles. There are two types of combustion, namely active regeneration and passive regeneration.

Passive regeneration:

When you drive on the highway, the engine runs at high speed for a long time, and the exhaust reaches a temperature of more than 500 degrees. After driving at 90km/h or higher for a period of time, the exhaust will automatically become hot enough to burn the carbon particles captured by the GPF. However, most car owners do not have enough time to drive on the highway frequently, and relying solely on this passive regeneration to clear the blockage does not meet the actual car needs.

Active regeneration:

Therefore, there is another combustion method. When the blockage degree of carbon particles accumulated in the GPF reaches more than 45%, active regeneration will be activated. According to the design of different manufacturers, there are burner injection heating regeneration, electric heating regeneration and microwave heating regeneration. This process may increase the fuel consumption of the vehicle.

If the active regeneration process has been started, it is necessary to observe the GPF warning light on the instrument. If it is continuously on, it means that the regeneration is not completed. At this time, continue to drive at a speed of more than 40km/h. If you stop, the regeneration cannot be completed.

How to use GDF regeneration to prevent clogging

Unlike the DPF of a diesel engine, the smoke particles captured by the GPF gasoline filter are very small, only 1g, while the typical DPF particles are about 8g. Gasoline direct injection engines emit about 30 times less particulate matter than diesel engines. Therefore, unlike many articles on the Internet, gasoline vehicles do not need to stop for regeneration.

Generally, as long as the vehicle is driving normally, the filter will trigger active regeneration when it reaches a certain threshold. At this time, a fault light will light up on the dashboard, indicating that the particle filter is regenerating. Just maintain a certain speed and drive without any extra operations. You can stop the car and turn off the engine when the fault light goes out.

If the blockage causes a significant increase in fuel consumption, you need to drive on the highway. The way to drive on the highway is to increase the speed to more than 80km/h, maintain a high speed, and then slow down. Slowing down will increase the amount of oxygen passing through the engine and exhaust system, which in turn will increase the temperature of the GPF to 400-700 degrees, which is more effective than driving at a constant speed. Generally, the passive regeneration of the GPF can be completed after 20 minutes of driving.

In addition, when using engine oil in daily life, you must add low-ash engine oil, because the additives in the engine oil will burn to generate ash. Part of it forms carbon deposits, and part of the ash must be discharged from the exhaust pipe, which will aggravate the blockage problem of the particle filter.