Applications
New vehicles and engines
The most effective way to use catalyst, filter and adsorber technologies is as part of an integrated system on a new vehicle. This allows the system to be designed as a complete, optimised unit, with the vehicle's calibration set to give the best performance under each individual operating condition in the 'map' contained in the vehicle's engine control unit (ECU). Exhaust gas treatment technologies can then complement, where appropriate, mechanical measures such as improvements to fuel management and the combustion process.
Concept car with Particulate filter
Retrofitting catalyst systems
A major innovation and success in Europe has been the retrofitting of catalytic converters, diesel particulate filter (DPFs) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems to existing vehicles. Tax reductions or vehicle-use restrictions have provided the incentive and catalyst and vehicle specialists have engineered the technology.
A range of catalytic converters - including the necessary fuel and engine controls to make them work reliably - are available in markets with incentive schemes for a wide range of passenger cars. Some million vehicles have already been retrofitted with catalysts.
Many thousands of trucks and buses have been engineered to reduce particulate or NOx emissions and to meet future EU emissions standards by adding a particulate trap or SCR system. More information on heavy-duty vehicles retrofit in Europe can be foune on the AECC dedicated website www.dieselretrofit.eu.
The range of applications
The technology pages show the range of catalytsts, filters and adsorbers that are available. Some are only appropriate for particular types of engine (for instance three-way catalysts are only used with petrol engines) but all can be used in a variety of vehicle and machinery applications.
From small...
Those applications are not limited to cars or buses. The range of applications is huge, from small, hand-held equipment such as grass trimmers and chainsaws, through motorcycles, cars, delivery vans and trucks and buses to excavators, railway locomotives and ships.
...to large
The following pages give some more detail on the main applications for light-duty vehicles (cars and light commercial vehicles), heavy-duty engines for trucks and buses, motorcycles, and non-road mobile machinery which covers a range of applications from lawnmowers to railway locomotives.
