Exhaust Aftertreatment
ArvinMeritor's Entering The Market In A Big Way.
Jim Winsor
Executive Editor
ArvinMeritor, the multibillion-dollar supplier to the automotive and trucking industry, plans to be a major player in the diesel exhaust aftertreatment market being driven by the EPA's 2007 rules.
Beginning that year, commercial vehicles will be required to reduce diesel exhaust particulates (mostly soot) to .01 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr). Currently particulates are not regulated.
Larry Yost, ArvinMeritor's CEO, predicts the new exhaust treatment technologies will be a $1.6-billion a year market - and he said his company will be a major player in it.
ArvinMeritor has developed a portfolio of solutions and products that can be tailored to specific applications for various engines and truck OEM applications, Yost said. These include:
For Particulate Matter
• Thermal regenerators - Available now for retrofit and for truck builders in 2007. Unit regenerates the filter conventionally using diesel fuel as its heat source.
• Catalyzed diesel particulate filters - Will be available in 2007 to meet particulate emissions standards.
For NOx
• Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) - Available in 2005 in Europe, 2007 in the U.S. Used in conjunction with liquid urea from a separate onboard tank, it is metered into the exhaust stream to assist the catalytic reduction of NOx. This technology is favored by European diesel engine manufacturers.
• NOx filters using ArvinMeritor's Plasma Reformer technology - (Described below). To be available commercially in 2010.
For Hydrocarbons
• Diesel Oxidation Catalysts - Available now. Used in the exhaust system to remove up to 90% of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions.
ArvinMeritor already has contracts to supply a U.S. truck manufacturer with particulate diesel exhaust filters meeting 2007 requirements.
ArvinMeritor holds a license from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) to further develop the plasma technology which, in simplest terms, is a process that creates an electrically charged cloud of hydrogen-rich gas (plasma) by mixing air and fuel with electricity in a small container about the size of a large coffee can. The plasma works in combination with particulate and NOx adsorbers now in development. The Plasma Fuel Reformer burns on-board diesel fuel to produce the hydrogen-rich gas, which is used to fuel the efficient regenerator for NOx traps that will be used as part of exhaust aftertreatment systems. Officials said that since the hydrogen is produced onboard, the Plasma Fuel Reformer significantly reduces the need for onboard storage.
ArvinMeritor has received a $1.7-million grant from the Indiana 21st Century Research and Development Fund to assist in the development of the Plasma Fuel Reformer exhaust technology. Work is under way at the company's Emissions Technical Center in Columbus, Ind.
Aggressive in-vehicle testing is now under way in real-world applications of hydrogen-enabled aftertreatment systems on light and heavy trucks and buses.
Diesel particulate and NOx traps need to be "regenerated" regularly to burn off the accumulated contaminants.
Pedro Ferro, vice president and general manager of ArvinMeritor's Commercial Vehicle Emissions Business, said its Plasma Fuel Reformer can regenerate a NOx trap using about half the amount of diesel fuel compared to conventional methods.
"It can also be regenerated over a much broader temperature range than if straight diesel fuel is used. It's even possible to regenerate our hydrogen-enabled NOx trap when the truck is idling, which simply isn't possible with conventional methods," he said.
According to Tom Gosnell, president of ArvinMeritor's Commercial Vehicle Systems Business, the goal is to have the new Plasma Fuel Reformer technology in the market and on vehicles in time to comply with EPA's stringent 2010 exhaust emissions regulations.
