Corning celebrates 40 years of clean-air technologies

20 September 2013

Corning this week celebrated the 40 year anniversary of its automotive ceramic substrate business and the construction of the business’ manufacturing facility in Erwin, NY.

In 1973, Corning built its first automotive plant—now known as Erwin Manufacturing—to produce cellular ceramic substrates for catalytic converters. Today ceramic substrate converters are widely used in automobiles, as well as in heavy-duty and nonroad engines.

Since the first shipment from Erwin, Corning has produced over 1.5 billion light-duty substrates to help control mobile emissions globally. With time, the facility has evolved to also manufacture diesel particulate filter substrates. The plant also “supports next-generation technologies now in development that will help the emissions regulations of tomorrow achieve broader and higher clean-air goals”, said Corning.

Corning holds more than 600 patents for emission control products and processes that are used in gasoline, diesel, and alternative-fuel vehicles, as well as stationary applications.

In addition to the Erwin Manufacturing plant, the company also produces cellular ceramic products at its Erwin Diesel facility and at plants in Blacksburg, VA; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Port Elizabeth, South Africa; and Shanghai, China.

Earlier this year, the company announced an investment of approximately $250 million to increase manufacturing capacity for its diesel emission control products. The majority of the investment will increase capacity at Erwin Diesel, which manufactures large ceramic substrates and filters for heavy-duty diesel engines.

Source: Corning