TROY, Mich. (Oct. 4, 2004) — ArvinMeritor, a large supplier of components to the trucking industry, plans to be a major player in the diesel-exhaust aftertreatment market that’s being driven by the EPA’s 2007 rules.

Beginning that year, commercial vehicles will be required to reduce diesel exhaust particulates (mostly soot) to 0.01 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr).

ArvinMeritor’s predicts that new exhaust-treatment technologies will be a $1.6-billion a year market — and the company wants to be a major player.

To that end, ArvinMeritor has developed a variety of products and processes designed to address three specific areas. The first area is particulate matter itself. ArvinMeritor already makes thermal regenerators available for retrofit and they will be ready for truck builders in 2007. The units regenerate filters conventionally, using diesel fuel as a heat source. ArvinMeritor will also be producing catalyzed diesel particulate filters in time to meet 2007 particulate emissions standards.

The second area is NOx. In 2007, half of all on-highway vehicles sold in the U.S. and Canada will be allowed to emit no more than 0.20 g/hp-hr of nitrogen oxide. That’s a 90 per-cent drop from previous 2002-04 levels. ArvinMeritor’s selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system will be available for 2005 in Europe and 2007 in the U.S.

Used in conjunction with liquid urea from a separate onboard tank, it is metered into the exhaust stream to assist the catalytic reduction of NOx. This technology is favored by European diesel engine manufacturers.

The company will also produce filters, using the company’s Plasma Reformer technology, which will be available in 2010. To decrease hydrocarbons ArvinMeritor will produce diesel oxidation catalysts, which are used in the exhaust system to remove up to 90 per cent of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions.