Advanced emission control company Clean Diesel Technologies has developed technology to replace costly use of platinum group and rare earth metals in catalytic converters.
CDTi has been granted the first two of a family of patents for Spinel, a proprietary clean emissions exhaust technology that the company says will reduce the cost of attaining more stringent clean air standards.
The new technology will power multiple catalytic product lines that the company says will be highly disruptive to the traditional platinum-based or rare-earth based device industry.
Spinel works across a wide range of engine and vehicle applications, both diesel and gasoline, CDTi says. Advanced testing is underway on production models of passenger cars and heavy duty vehicles at independent vehicle test facilities.
CDTi, citing a Johnson Matthey 2013 study, says OEMs currently spend more than $6 billion a year on platinum group metals. The company says its technology will potentially save OEMs billions by cutting out these expensive platinum group metals.
Also this week Isuzu and other global truck and engine manufacturers called for regulatory harmonization and closer cooperation among European, North American, and Japanese regulators to reduce fuel consumption and emissions associated with on-road freight transport.