Integrated Fuel Technologies gets worldwide license for Argonne-developed Diesel DeNOx Catalyst

Technology reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by stunning 95 percent

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 1, 2008) – A new, patented catalyst developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory that can reliably and economically reduce between 95 and 100 percent of the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel-fueled engines has been licensed to Integrated Fuel Technologies, Inc. (IFT), a Washington State start-up company with offices in Spokane and Kirkland.

IFT plans to integrate the technology – named Diesel DeNOx Catalyst – into the firm's existing products that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that could be sold to original equipment manufacturers (OEM), said IFT president Robert Firebaugh.

"OEMs like PACCAR, Cummins, Siemens, BASF, Corning and John Deere have expressed an interest in IFT products enhanced with the Diesel DeNOx Catalyst," Firebaugh said. "These companies want to know if the technology can survive continuous testing."

"The catalyst can also be easily retrofitted for installation on existing diesel engine vehicles," said Christopher Marshall, the Argonne chemist who led the development of technology, adding that "there is a potentially large pool of customers for this technology, given the 11 million diesel engines currently on the road."

Emissions of NOx are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which began implementing on Jan. 1, 2007 a more stringent regulation to reduce releases of the smog-causing pollutant by 2.6 million tons a year on a phased-in basis through 2010. Standards set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are the strictest in the United States. Argonne and IFT aim for the Diesel DeNOx technology to meet CARB standards.

IFT is also collaborating with Argonne under a two-year research agreement to test the technology's longevity in real-world use and to demonstrate it in real world applications to determine if it can meet a broad array of transportation applications.

The Diesel DeNOx Catalyst is a coating that is applied to a ceramic brick, like a catalytic converter, which is installed in a vehicle's emissions system. The technology works in conjunction with the particulate matter (PM) trap's filter. The PM trap's filter removes soot from diesel exhaust, which is then processed by the Diesel DeNOx Catalyst to remove NOx emissions.