Engelhard introducing palladium-containing diesel catalyst technology

27 April 2005

Iselin, NJ-based Engelhard Corporation is launching a new, platinum/palladium diesel oxidation catalyst technology. The new catalyst—which Engelhard said has been under development for the past several years—will go into serial production starting next month on new Euro 4 model platforms from two unnamed European carmakers.

In each of these vehicles, the new platinum/palladium technology enables palladium to be substituted for one-third of the platinum in one of the catalysts in a three-catalyst emission control system, said Engelhard. The substitution of platinum with palladium results in precious metal cost savings for the car manufacturers.

Palladium containing diesel oxidation catalyst technology was announced last year by Umicore. Palladium may lower the activity of the fresh catalyst, but it allows for improved thermal durability and improved performance in aged catalysts. The use of palladium in diesel oxidation catalysts is possible only with ultra low sulfur fuels, as palladium is much more sensitive to sulfur poisoning than platinum. Until now, diesel oxidation catalysts for European cars were based exclusively on platinum.

Engelhard said it continues to work on extending application of platinum/palladium technologies to other diesel emission control applications.

Source: Engelhard (press release)