Automotive Blogger

Until recently, diesel vehicles have relied on platinum in their diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) that are required to meet the stringent emission regulations for the 14 million light-duty and 2 million heavy-duty diesel vehicles produced annually worldwide. Platinum, however is not cheap, and has driven the cost of DOCs up significantly.

In the past couple of years Nanostellar, a company who produces catalyst materials, introduced the use of palladium to partially replace the four-times more expensive platinum. But further research and development on their part has brought to the table a new material that will further increase the affect of the catalyst while reducing its cost; gold. The advantages of gold are simple. At current market value it is about 1/2 the price of platinum. But what’s even better is the NS gold catalyst can reduce noxious emissions by up to 40% more than standard pure-platinum catalysts in use today.

Pankaj Dhingra, CEO of Nanostellar was pleased with their new discovery, “Not only does NS Gold(TM) break performance barriers imposed by mixed platinum and palladium catalysts, but also its performance can be more easily tuned to the characteristics of a variety of diesel engines”. He added, “we are excited to offer NS Gold(TM) to improve the cost equation for the diesel industry. Gold is not new to catalyst scientists, but this is the first time it has been successfully adapted for use in automotive diesel oxidation catalysts.”

While not as exciting as a new source of increased horsepower or handling, it is always nice to see new breakthroughs and innovations on the emissions side of the automotive industry. With Hydrocarbon restrictions getting stricter by the year, this new catalyst came at the perfect time. Personally, after learning of all the precious metals in diesel catalyst, I was thinking about quitting my job writing and opening up a new business that combines salvaging trucks with making gold and platinum grills for the hip hop set. Bill’s big rig grills.

-Bill Mertz

catalyst, emissions, diesel, grill, gold, platinum, palladium, hydrocarbons