Date: August 09, 2007 at 17:09:39
From: R.Lang, [dslb-088-068-099-249.pools.arcor-ip.net]
Subject: Breakthrough ArvinMeritor Technology Promises Revolutionary Approach to Extensive Exhaust Emissions Regulation Changes

Quelle:http://www.arvinmeritor.com/media_room/render_news.asp?message_id=000000001A447390AA6611CD9BC800AA002FC45A0900CEE5ADC7AA9FD411A2F20008C791E019000000011D500000CEE5ADC7AA9FD411A2F20008C791E01900000001737F0000 Breakthrough ArvinMeritor Technology Promises Revolutionary Approach to Extensive Exhaust Emissions Regulation Changes Lab tests indicate 50 percent better fuel consumption than competing technologies TROY, Mich., (June 11, 2004) — ArvinMeritor, Inc. (NYSE: ARM) today unveiled its Plasma Fuel Reformer, a breakthrough exhaust emissions technology that could revolutionize the way commercial and light vehicle manufacturers meet the upcoming 2010 diesel engine emission standards. ArvinMeritor’s Plasma Fuel Reformer produces a hydrogen-rich gas from the diesel or gasoline fuel on board the vehicle that can be used to enable emission control systems. Aggressive in-vehicle testing is now under way in real-world applications of hydrogen-enabled after-treatment systems on heavy and light trucks and buses. The Plasma Fuel Reformer is expected to be available for production in 2010. The Plasma Fuel Reformer is part of the company’s Clean Air Solutions portfolio. The portfolio is to provide original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with unique technologies and products to meet the 2010 regulations, widely viewed as the most aggressive clean air regulatory shake-up in decades. The first use of the hydrogen-rich gas is likely to be in commercial vehicles, where it can be used as a lower-cost, highly efficient, clean-burning, fast-starting regenerator of particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) filters, which will soon be used in diesel exhaust gas after-treatment. Over the long term, the hydrogen-rich gas may also be used to greatly enhance the combustion efficiency of gasoline engines. “The Plasma Fuel Reformer produces hydrogen onboard and on demand from the vehicle’s fuel,” said Pedro Ferro, vice president and general manager, ArvinMeritor Commercial Vehicle Emissions. “It’s also compact, has a rapid start-up, a low electrical power drain and an excellent transient response. It can efficiently convert diesel and gasoline fuel. Most of all – because the hydrogen is created efficiently on the vehicle and used as needed – there is no need for any kind of hydrogen storage on the vehicle. There is also no need for an all-new roadside hydrogen distribution infrastructure – two unsolved issues of other hydrogen systems.” The first application of the Plasma Fuel Reformer is likely to be in commercial trucks and buses. U.S. standards for the commercial vehicle industry call for diesel emissions to be reduced by approximately 95 percent from current levels starting in 2007, with all vehicles required to meet the strictest standards by 2010. European regulations are similarly severe. It is expected that all manufacturers will need to implement a combination of exhaust after-treatment systems with engine design and control changes (such as exhaust gas recirculation). “Upcoming diesel engine regulation changes are equal to or greater than the U.S. regulation changes for gasoline engines in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Ferro. “Just as the former Arvin Industries helped solved the emissions issues of the 1970s with the development of the catalytic converter, the company is poised to assist engine, truck and automotive manufacturers in meeting what is likely the biggest environmental challenge of our generation.” Diesel PM and NOx traps need to be “regenerated” regularly. The hydrogen-rich gas enables this to be done very efficiently. “Our tests show that the Plasma Fuel Reformer’s hydrogen-rich gas regenerates a NOx trap with about half the diesel fuel than conventional methods,” said Ferro. “A hydrogen-enabled NOx trap can also be significantly smaller, and is much more resistant to sulfur poisoning. It can also be regenerated over a much broader temperature range than if diesel fuel is used. We have also shown that it’s possible to regenerate our hydrogen-enabled NOx trap when the truck is idling, which simply isn’t possible with conventional methods.” Plasma Fuel Reformer has gasoline potential, too ArvinMeritor is also aggressively pursuing highly promising applications of the Plasma Fuel Reformer technology to gasoline combustion engines, and is beginning in-vehicle testing in Europe this summer. To this end, the company has partnered with Ingenieurgesellschaft Auto und Verkehr (IAV), the renowned automotive research and development provider based in Chemnitz, Germany. ArvinMeritor has already demonstrated in engine dynamometer testing the hydrogen-rich gas’s potential to enable a next generation of extremely fuel efficient, low-exhaust emission and lightweight gasoline engines. “Our Hydrogen-Enabled Combustion Engine (HECE) development and testing has already produced some spectacular results,” said Ferro. “We’ve confirmed that our hydrogen-rich gas has real promise to achieve ultra-lean turbocharged operation of gasoline engines, with improved fuel economy and dramatically reduced exhaust emissions. Our optimism in the Plasma Fuel Reformer technology is even stronger now than it was at the beginning. There is much greater unrealized potential to come for this remarkable technology to provide clean air solutions that are efficient, reliable and cost-effective,” he said. Plasma Fuel Reformer background ArvinMeritor has utilized its industry-leading engineering and manufacturing expertise to take an innovation pioneered by the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and apply the technology into systems that can be mass-produced. The company has exclusive rights to the use of the technology for the licensed applications from MIT. It is making significant progress and has reaped major reductions in the size, cost and complexity of these systems through many hours of aggressive re-design and test-bed development. ArvinMeritor currently holds 15 patents for the Plasma Fuel Reformer technology, either patented by ArvinMeritor or licensed from MIT. Additional patent applications are pending. The Plasma Fuel Reformer uses an electrical plasma (a strong, continuous “spark”) to partially combust a mixture of air and hydrocarbon fuel. There is deliberately insufficient air to support combustion so that, instead of burning, the fuel dissociates to create a hydrogen-rich gas. That gas can be used to improve or even enable the operation of other exhaust emission systems. Initial development of a Plasma Fuel Reformer required as much as 2,000 watts of electrical energy to operate. A measure of the progress is that today’s unit uses an average of less than 100 watts. Full production systems are likely to be even lower. Early systems took many seconds to produce hydrogen from cold exhaust, an important disadvantage in real-world use, as emissions are highest at this time. The latest versions are running in less than a second. And the first prototypes only produced hydrogen at just one flow rate. Today’s prototypes manage transient or varying flow demands equally well. Diesel application development of the Plasma Fuel Reformer is being led in North America with MIT at ArvinMeritor’s Commercial Vehicle Engineering Center in Columbus, Ind., its commercial vehicle center of emissions expertise. ArvinMeritor’s Air and Emissions Technologies operation (in Augsburg, Germany) is the leading global supplier of emission control systems for light vehicles. This operation is participating in the gasoline engine development with IAV. This two-prong strategy leverages ArvinMeritor’s global reach and breadth, and aligns engineering responsibility with product-specific expertise. Development of the Plasma Fuel Reformer technology is supported in part by a grant from the State of Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier $8-billion global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. The company serves light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets. Headquartered in Troy, Mich., ArvinMeritor employs approximately 32,000 people at more than 150 manufacturing facilities in 27 countries. ArvinMeritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ARM. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at: http://www.arvinmeritor.com/. Bei der Beschreibung des dieser Erfindung kommen mir so verschiedene Aussagen sehr bekannt vor. Gabs da nicht den Pantonereaktor, der machte ja wohl auch nichts anders, er bereitete den Brennstoff so auf das ein reaktionsfähige Gasgemisch entstand, welches in einem normalen Ottomotor dann verbrannt werden kann. Nur hat der Pantonereaktor einen riesiges Problem, er hat nur einen optimalen Arbeitspunkt, wird der Durchsatz und der thermische Energieeintrag verändert, so verringert sich sofort der Wirkungsgrad des Reaktors. Ich nehme an, das der oben im englischen Text beschriebene Plasmaprozess durch entsprechende Steuerelektronik so geführt werden kann daß das gewünschte Reaktionsprodukt in einer breiten Mengenstreuung verfügbar ist. Im FMSO habe ich das schon vor längerer Zeit mal berichtet, dort haben die selbstgerechten demokrötischen Spezialisten das ganze als Utopie eines Spinners kommentiert. Naja bei Spezialisten sind die Scheuklappen halt etwas länger, da kommt man halt erst später zu neuen Erkenntnissen. Damit ihre Kreise nicht mehr gestört werden haben sie kurzerhand den IP-Nummerblock gesperrt, unter dem ich damals postete. So werden sie zukünftig nicht mehr verunsichert, wenn da ein Spinner im grünen Forum behauptet die Erde sei eine Kugel. Gruss Rainer