 Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer - 2003 Engine Exhaust Aftertreatment System Based on Non-thermal Plasma-Assisted Catalysis
Department of Energy
Through CRADAs, the PNNL team transferred the technology to numerous companies, including Ford Motor Company, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Caterpillar, Inc., and Delphi Corporation. To date, a full-scale prototype of the system has been installed on a PSA Peugeot 206 environmental technologies demonstration vehicle.
There is a renewed interest in the U.S. reducing its dependence on foreign oil. To address this concern, the auto industry is developing more fuel-efficient diesel engines, and the fuel efficiency it will help make possible will directly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.
Contact: Darrell Herling, (509) 376-3892, Darrell.Herling@pnl.gov
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A team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), with the assistance of industry partners, developed an exhaust aftertreatment system for lean-burn diesel and gasoline engines based on non-thermal plasma (NTP)-assisted catalysis. This system converts harmful nitrous oxides and particulate matter emitted from vehicle engines into clean air components. The technology performs well in the lean-burn conditions of energy-efficient diesel engines, in which conventional three-way catalytic converters are inadequate. The exhaust aftertreatment system also could be easily incorporated into existing tailpipe designs, with little modification, as a retrofit option for older vehicles.