General Electric and Umicore have signed a technology license agreement to commercialise a proprietary Hydrocarbon Selective Lean NOx Catalyst (HC-LNC) aftertreatment designed to reduce diesel engine NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions for various transportation as well as stationary applications. The HC-LNC aftertreatment could provide an alternative to the existing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology.
SCR requires urea (an organic compound) as an external reductant to initiate the conversion of NOx to N2 and CO2. The GE catalyst on the other hand is capable of functioning with either diesel fuel or E85 biofuel as a reductant.
Working closely with GE Global Research and its partners over the past year, Umicore has reached key milestones in the development of the GE catalyst material in terms of production readiness, performance and durability. The two companies are now actively engaged in optimising the commercial scale production of the material.
This new catalyst is an aftertreatment innovation capable of functioning with either diesel fuel or E85 biofuel as the reductant, providing an option to those segments of the marketplace seeking an alternative to urea-based SCR technology. Umicore, an industry leader in catalyst technology and global supplier to many leading global automakers and commercial vehicle manufacturers, will work with GE Global Research, which has been developing HC-LNC technology since 2001, to offer the catalyst to customers in the off-highway and stationary power markets.
“We are excited to reach this agreement with Umicore for the development of this critical technology,” said William Kernick, Vice President, GE Technology Ventures. “By partnering with a key developer and leading producer of catalyst technology, GE is creating opportunities to develop and market innovative emission reduction solutions.”
“We have developed an excellent relationship over the years with GE Global Research and GE Technology Ventures and have worked diligently to make these technology advances a success,” said Joerg von Roden, Vice President, Automotive Catalyst North America. “There is more work ahead of us but the results we see today are highly promising and offer many potential benefits for our customers.”
In keeping with GE’s ecomagination program to help customers meet their environmental challenges, the partnership with Umicore also complements GE’s extensive research and development efforts on emission-reducing technologies. In 2008, GE invested $1.4 billion on cleaner technology R&D, with a pledge to invest $1.5 billion on ecomagination R&D by 2010. R&D investment has reached a total of more than $4 billion since the ecomagination program launch. Similarly, as part of their mission to develop ‘materials for a better life’, Umicore generates approximately 50% of its revenues and spends approximately 80% of its R&D budget in the area of clean technology.
