NGK Insulators, Ltd., a major supplier of electrical insulators and ceramic products in Japan, has announced that its diesel particulate filter (DPF) is being installed in Mazda's diesel-powered "Bongo" vans and trucks. The DPF is made using a ceramic containing silicon carbide (SiC), giving it high heat resistance, and enabling it to remove almost all particulate matter (PM) such as soot in the exhaust from diesel vehicles.

Since the DPF gradually gets clogged with PM during operation, it is necessary to restore filters by burning the accumulated PM using heat in the exhaust. In conventional methods, however, the filters were sometimes damaged by the heat of PM combustion.

NGK has improved the thermal shock resistance of the DPF material by creating a composite of silicon that has high elasticity, taking advantage of the high heat resistance of silicon carbide. At the same time, porosity and pore size of the ceramic material were optimized to prevent a decrease in fuel efficiency caused by loss of exhaust pressure associated with DPF installation.

The Mazda Bongo vans and trucks are the first vehicles in the 1-ton load capacity class to use a DPF. Mazda is expected to expand the use of NGK's DPF, and some European carmakers have also decided to install it in their cars.





Posted: 2004/03/09 09:09:17 AM
Japanese version

TAG Chemicals , Manufacturing industry , Technology , Transportation