Engines

Internal combustion engines have been the predominant power source for mobile transportation for more than a century. Engines have also served an important role in the production of power for emergency back-up situations and for power generation in remote locations that are not easily connected to established power grids. Previously, these engines have run exclusively on liquid fuels, but recently this has changed due to the current abundance of natural gas. Due to advancements in materials and design, these natural gas engines can produce as much as 18 megawatts of power. When placed in parallel, these engines can, in some instances, compete with larger gas turbines to produce base load power for the power grid.

Umicore's DNX^® and DNO^® catalysts play an important role in reducing harmful emissions such as NOx, CO and VOC from these engine sources. The unique corrugated substrate allows for a large overall catalyst pitch size, compared to extruded type catalyst, which keeps overall backpressure low while still keeping a small catalyst footprint. In biogas applications, rife with siloxane poisons known to dramatically reduce overall catalyst activity, Umicore's DNX^® and DNO^® catalysts have proven ultra-high tolerance levels to poisons while maintaining excellent catalytic activity.