Effects of high octane additivated gasoline fuel on Three Way Catalysts performance under an accelerated catalyst ageing procedure

•An accelerated Three Way Catalyst (TWC) chemical ageing procedure has been developed.•The impact of fuel octane enhancer on TWC poisoning has been investigated.•CO & NO TWC efficiency remained 99% over the duration of the ageing procedure.•Octane enhancer has demonstrated no detrimental effects on TWC performance. The adoption of high octane rating fuels in Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines helps to improve fuel economy and thus reduce CO2 emission. However, there is scarce literature regarding the impact of additives used in high octane rating fuels on the performance and durability of the exhaust after treatment components. This work investigates the effects of using an aniline (aromatic amine) octane enhancer added to a commercial gasoline fuel on the activity of a commercial Three Way Catalytic Converter (TWC) coupled to a GDI engine. TWC’s capability in abating gaseous and particle emissions is studied for both the additivated and the baseline fuel during and after a fuel-induced accelerated catalyst ageing procedure. The accelerated catalyst ageing procedure is developed aiming to identify the impact of the engine fuel on the catalyst poisoning, while limiting catalyst thermal deactivation. CO and NO conversion efficiencies in the TWC were close to 100% under the steady-state and transient stoichiometric engine operation for both fuels during and after the catalyst ageing procedure. There was a minor decrease (generally