What should your do if the DPF is blocked?

The DPF, scientifically known as a particulate trap, has the main function of trapping carbon soot particles and other particulate matter from the exhaust of diesel vehicles. It feels similar to putting a mask in the tailpipe, which filters the impurities in the exhaust gas to bring the PM content of the exhaust gas up to emission standards.

As a particle trap, the DPF will collect a large amount of particulate matter over a long period of time, which can lead to clogging of the DPF if it is not cleaned in time.

Why does the DPF become blocked?

Insufficient engine combustion, inadequate quality of fuel and lubricants, It is easy to produce large amounts of polymers, and salts containing elements of lubricants or fuel additives are attached to the DPF. Such substances accumulate more and more over time. As a result, DPF is blocked, affecting the normal use of the vehicle.

Generally speaking, when a vehicle is driving at low speed, it is more likely to cause DPF clogging.When the DPF is clogged, there will be a corresponding indicator light on the dashboard of the vehicle to prompt.

The DPF is clogged, which will affect the power and fuel consumption of the vehicle.Imagine that if there is a lot of dust attached to a mask, in order to ensure smooth breathing, we need to increase our breathing intensity. The same is true for DPF.When there are more and more impurities in the DPF, it will cause the exhaust back pressure of the vehicle to further increase, affecting the smooth exhaust of the engine, thereby affecting the power of the engine and causing a certain impact on fuel consumption.

What to do if a blockage occurs in the DPF？

When the particulate matter captured in the DPF reaches the treatment limit, it needs to be treated, using reaction conditions such as high temperatures to burn up the captured particulate matter, turning it into ash that is released into the atmosphere with the exhaust gas. The DPF is currently divided into active and passive regeneration, and may also need to be removed manually if the blockage is severe.

Passive regeneration 

When the system detects a certain value of particulate matter in the DPF unit when the vehicle is being driven at high speed, the exhaust will automatically rise to a higher temperature, converting the nitric oxide into nitrogen dioxide and using this to oxidise the carbon dioxide particles and automatically remove the precipitated particles from the filter.

Active regeneration

When the particulate matter captured by the filter reaches a preset limit, additional fuel needs to be injected to raise the exhaust temperature and burn off the collected carbon particles.

Generally speaking, when the DPF regeneration indicator light comes on or flashes, it indicates that the vehicle needs to be regenerated, so you need to stop nearby, pull up the handbrake, keep the engine idling and press the regeneration switch. At this point the engine speed rises slightly, and when the engine automatically returns to idle speed, the regeneration indicator light goes out, indicating that the DPF regeneration is complete and can be used normally on the road.

Manual dust removal

If the DPF captures too much particulate matter for the DPF to be treated by regeneration, it needs to be removed manually.

The filter and its accessories need to be placed in a heating chamber so that the urea crystals are heated to decompose and ash, while other particulate matter is heated to loosen, and then a high speed airflow is made to pass through the small holes of the ceramic filter, and the pores are cleaned by repeated pressurised blowing of the degraded carbon ash, sweeping away the carbon ash from the carrier to achieve the regeneration effect of clearing the blockage.