By Dave Melanson
Robby Pace, a chemistry graduate student, working at UK CAER.
The 糖心vlog官方入口 (CAER) Biofuels and Environmental Catalysis Group has received a $2 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant to develop new emissions technology for low-temperature gasoline.
The project is titled 鈥淩esearch and Development of Novel Adsorber Technology to Address Hydrocarbon and Nitrogen Oxide Emissions for Low Temperature Gasoline Applications.鈥 As part of the grant, UK CAER will be partnering with the University of California, Berkeley, Purdue University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Ford Motor Company.
This research project seeks to solve a problem with vehicle emissions. As internal combustion engines become more efficient, their exhaust gas becomes cooler. However, catalytic converters need to be warm to start efficiently removing pollutants (specifically nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons).
With national emission standards for vehicles becoming more stringent, it is increasingly important to remove these pollutants from exhaust gas when a vehicle is first started, in other words, when the exhaust gas is still cold.
鈥淭o accomplish this goal, we are conducting research on a class of materials (zeolites) that can effectively trap pollutants until the vehicle鈥檚 catalytic converter is warm enough to convert them to harmless products,鈥 said Mark Crocker, associate director of UK CAER鈥檚 Biofuels and Environmental Catalysis Group and professor of chemistry. 鈥淚f successful, this technology will play a critical role in creating cleaner and more efficient vehicles.鈥
The grant was funded by DOE鈥檚 Vehicle Technologies Office, and reasserts DOE鈥檚 commitment to advanced, energy efficient transportation technologies. Work of this type will improve the nation鈥檚 energy security, help consumers and businesses save money on transportation energy costs, and strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness. All told, DOE invested $19.4 million in 22 new cost-shared projects across the nation.
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