Scientists develop catalyst that cleans diesel emissions without platinum

Diesel engines are a classic example of good news and bad news. The good news is that diesel engines are much more fuel efficient than petrol engines. The bad news is that they belch out some pretty nasty emissions like nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. The good news is that catalytic converters can scrub those out. The bad news is that last Friday the platinum needed by the converters is selling for US$1,473.10 an ounce. Now the good news is that a team at Nanostellar in Redwood, California, has developed a mineral catalyst that outperforms platinum at a fraction of the cost.

Platinum is an excellent catalyst, though it does have a few problems. One of the biggest at the moment is that a violent labor dispute in South Africa sent the price skyrocketing. Also, with the World Health Organization classifying diesel exhaust as a carcinogen, the potential demand for platinum for catalytic converters for hundred of millions of vehicles far outstrips supply. The Nanostellar team, led by Dr. Kyeongjae “K.J.” Cho, professor of materials science and engineering and physics at UT Dallas and co-founder of Nanostellar, determined that a mineral catalyst would be a cheaper alternative.

Reporting their findings in the August 17 issue of Science, Cho relates that computer modelling showed that mullite was a cost-effective substitute. Mullite is a silicate mineral discovered on the Isle of Mull, Scotland in 1924. It’s rare in nature, but a synthetic version is produced commercially for use in various porcelains, such as crucibles and heating balls. It has a very high melting point of 1840 C (3344 F) and as a mixed-phase oxide mineral it makes a very attractive catalyst. In addition, laboratory tests indicate that converters using mullite would have 45 percent lower emissions than with platinum.

“Our goal to move completely away from precious metals and replace them with oxides that can be seen commonly in the environment has been achieved,” Dr. Cho said. “We’ve found new possibilities to create renewable, clean energy technology by designing new functional materials without being limited by the supply of precious metals.”

The new catalyst, called Noxicat, will be developed for commercial use and further work is planned to determine its application in fuel cells.

“Check out the Volkswagen TDI. “

Cleaner than most gasoline engines. VW and Audi use TDI, in several models.

And Audi has won 24 Hours of LeMans 11 of the last 13 years, recently with diesel TDI. This year with a TDI Hybrid.

Cheapest model is a Jetta sedan, and I think the Golf is about the same price—low $20s, up to about $28,000 for a Jetta wagon, automatic, sunroof, navi etc.

30 mpg city, 40 mpg highway and reports are they do better than these ratings.

Jetta?

Yes

Model?

Mine is an older one.. 1997, manual trans. Will drive it until it dies ;-) Had to replace the turbo at about 300k miles (oil seals went), and the clutch at about 435k (it was original).. It has a block heater installed, but I have never plugged it in. It has always started no matter what the temp (as long as I didn't get a batch of unwinterized diesel, but you solve that by getting the fuel treatment and putting it in the tank every time you are forced to buy diesel at an unfamiliar station - might be nothing wrong with their fuel, but a little prevention is better than a jelled up fuel line.) Keep an eye on the replacement interval for the timing belt and regular oil/filter and you're good for a long long time.. I'm trying for a million miles, but I think the body will give up before the drive train ;-)

Each generation of the TDI has had an improvement in hp and torque. Mine is the first TDI series VW sold in the US (they dropped the US diesel between 1993 and 1997 but it was still available in Canada) The TDI has some electronics and of course the turbo which made it a big improvement over the earlier VW diesels (of which I have had quite a few and all of them had over 300k miles on them before I replaced them..) The new 'clean diesel' TDI is the fourth or maybe the fifth generation of the TDI offered in the US market and is 50 state legal emissions wise. Last I checked it gets the same/close milage to the Prius and the TDI can get out of its own way (and doesn't have a $10g battery to replace in 100k miles ;-) And the Jetta (or even the Golf) has more metal than the Smart~~Car~~Coffin so you're ahead there. If you are into SUV's, the TDI in a V6 version is available in the Touareg and has garnered some good reviews. (When I replace my wife's Audi Quattro wagon, I will probably get her the TDI Touareg..)

I recently test drove one of the new models. I told the salesman that I had no compelling reason to get rid of mine since it was still getting over 40 mpg and wasn't using oil, so he wasn't going to make a sale but I needed to know if there was a viable replacement when and if the time came. The new ones are so much quieter than my '97, and they have a surprising increase in acceleration over the early one, and I thought mine was pretty peppy (I once ran a kiddiepunk with one of those Civics with the fartcan muffler into a radar trap because he insisted in his delusion that he could pass me, so after I took him up to the 90 mhp range from a roll start, I backed it off and let him 'beat' me right into the waiting arms of the local LEO... I was so, um, sorry for him... ) (I did know the LEO was hiding there though, maybe that was unfair? Nah..)

If you are thinking along these lines, it certainly would not be a waste of your time to check it out. If you can drive a manual I would opt for that only because the automatics don't last 470k miles, but if you don't keep them as long as I do and you do a lot of rush hour rubber banding, then the auto will be a better choice, but it will give you about a 5 mpg hit in stop and go stuff (highway will be close for both stick and auto.)

Hope that wasn't too much information (was certainly more info than you asked for;-)

It is more expensive. The fleet is probably growing faster than you know. At $1.50 to $2.00 cheaper than a gallon of gasoline on an energy equivalent basis, a lot of people might be interested in a vehicle that could use natural gas.

It would better yet to have a multifuel setup. With enough natural gas capable cars on the road, the traditional raping of the masses when gasoline prices were routinely jacked up such as around Memorial Day and Labor Day would be a thing of the past.

When you think about it, a $1.50 to $2.00 savings per gallon would extremely appealing.

http://www.ngvc.org/about_ngv/index.html

You may be right. Unofrtunaely even though there’s no shorage of oil, the traders don’t miiss an opportunity to drive the price up at any rumor or incident. Why does a refinery fire on the West Coast manage to impact gasoline prices on the East Coast?

The disconnect between the pricing of natural gas and oil offers us an opportunity. I was surprised and then not surprised to learn that Iran has the larges percentage of natural gas fuel vehicles.

Odd to say it’s the most far right Republicans that are against the tax credits for something that would make a difference for the better for this country.

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