A coated ceramic honeycomb body comprising a honeycomb structure comprising a matrix of intersecting porous walls forming a plurality of axially-extending channels, at least some of the plurality of axially-extending channels being plugged to form inlet channels and outlet channels, wherein a total surface area of the outlet channels is greater than a total surface area of the inlet channels, and wherein a catalyst is preferentially located within the outlet channels, and preferentially disposed on non-filtration walls of the outlet channels. Methods and apparatus configured to preferentially apply a catalyst-containing slurry to the outlet channels and non-filtration walls are provided, as are other aspects.

A honeycomb filter includes a pillar-shaped honeycomb structure having porous partition walls provided, surrounding a plurality of cells which serve as fluid through channels extending from an inflow end face to an outflow end face, and porous plugging portions provided either at the ends on the inflow end face side or the outflow end face side of the cells, wherein the plugging portions are composed of a porous material, the honeycomb structure has a central region and a circumferential region, and a ratio of an area of the circumferential region with respect to that of the central region ranges from 0.1 to 0.5, porosity of a central plugging portion in the central region, is higher than that of a circumferential plugging portion in the circumferential region, and the porosity of the central plugging portion ranges from 76% to 85%, and that of the circumferential plugging portion from 60% to 75%.

A porous composite includes a porous base material and a porous collection layer formed on the base material. The collection layer has a thickness greater than or equal to 6 m. The collection layer has a plurality of large pores, each exposing the surface of the base material. A sum of areas of exposed regions of the base material that are each exposed from each large pore of the plurality of large pores is greater than or equal to 1% of the total area of the collection layer and less than or equal to 30% thereof. This allows the porous composite to achieve a favorable efficiency of collecting particulate matter and to increase the accessible area between the particulate matter and the collection layer and thereby accelerate oxidation of the particulate matter collected by the porous composite.

A honeycomb filter including: a pillar-shaped honeycomb structure including porous partition walls; and porous plugging portions disposed on either one of end portions of each of the cells, wherein a porosity (%) of the partition walls is defined as P1, a porosity (%) of the plugging portions is defined as P2, an occupancy (%) of the partition walls relative to an area of a cross section orthogonal to an extending direction of the cells of the honeycomb structure is defined as N1, the P1 is 50 to 65%, the P2 is 60 to 70%, the N1 is 22 to 39%, and X represented by Formula (1) satisfies a relation of Formula (2):
X=P1/P2N1,Formula (1):
18.800.19X.sup.2+11.33X121.6350.50.Formula (2):

A honeycomb filter includes a pillar-shaped honeycomb substrate and a plugging portion provided at an end portion on either an inflow or outflow end face side of cells, wherein, in a section orthogonal to the cell extending direction, the shapes of an inflow cell having the plugging portion and an outflow cell having the plugging portion are hexagonal. In the plurality of cells, a plurality of inflow cells surround one outflow cell such that one side of the inflow cell and one side of the outflow cell adjacent to the inflow cell are parallel. The partition wall includes a first partition wall and a second partition wall, at least one of the first partition walls is configured such that a ratio of a thickness of the second partition wall to the first partition wall is 1.0 to 2.5, and a total open frontal area is 35% to 95%.

The plugged honeycomb structure includes a plurality of honeycomb segments, a bonding layer, and plugging portions which plug open ends of cells of each honeycomb segment, and in the honeycomb segment, at least two types of cells having different sectional shapes are formed to constitute predetermined repeated arrangement patterns, and in rim circumferential wall cells including rims of the cells surrounded with partition walls and segment circumferential walls, an inflow open area of each corner rim circumferential wall cell disposed in each corner portion of the honeycomb segment is 1.1 times or more as large as an average inflow open area of non-corner rim circumferential wall cells arranged in portions other than the corner portions, or an outflow open area of the corner rim circumferential wall cell is 1.1 times or more as large as an average outflow open area of the non-corner rim circumferential wall cells.

A plugged honeycomb structure includes a plurality of honeycomb segments, a bonding layer, and plugging portions plugging open ends of cells of the honeycomb segments. The honeycomb segments include circumferential segments and central segments. The circumferential segments include at least one specific circumferential segment in which pressure loss with soot when an amount of the deposited soot is 4 g/L is higher than the pressure loss with soot of the central segment as much as 15% or more and in which an open frontal area of the circumferential segment is the same as or larger than an open frontal area of the central segment. In a cross section of a honeycomb structure body which is perpendicular to an extending direction of the cells, a ratio of an area of the specific circumferential segment is 4% or more to a total area of the circumferential segments and the central segments.

A separator element comprising a porous rigid single-piece substrate (2) made of a single porous material, and including internally at least one channel (3) for passing a flow of the fluid medium, which channel opens out in one end of the porous substrate for inlet of the fluid medium for treatment and in another end of the porous substrate for outlet of the retentate. At least one empty space (10) is arranged in the porous substrate so as to be surrounded by a portion of the material constituting the single-piece substrate (2) either completely so as to form a closed cavity or partially so as to form a cavity (10.sub.1) that opens out locally through the peripheral envelope (2.sub.2) of the substrate via a passage (10.sub.2) of section smaller than the section of the cavity (10.sub.1).

An exhaust gas purification filter that suppresses an increase in pressure loss associated with the formation of a catalyst layer and is excellent in PM burning quality. The exhaust gas purification filter includes a base and a catalyst layer provided on the base. The catalyst layer contains a carrier and a metal catalyst. Large pores having a circle equivalent diameter greater than 5 m occupy, when an area of the catalyst layer is 100% in an electron microscope observation image of a cross section of the catalyst layer, 45% or more of the area.

The invention relates to a particulate filter for collecting particulate matter from the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine, having a canal geometry that evolves along the entire length of the canal, such that: the perimeter of the cross section of the canal decreases continuously from an open end (310) of the canal (370) as far as a reference cross section (350) of the canal, then increases continuously from the reference cross section as far as a closed end (360) of the canal, and the surface area of the cross section of the canal decreases monotonously from the open end of the canal as far as the closed end. The closed ends are situated in the body of the filter near the outlet and inlet faces respectively for the inlet and outlet canals of the filter.