CTE Team Partners with EPA to Reduce Diesel Exhaust Emissions
Atlanta, GA - July 20, 2009 - The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), anAtlanta-based nonprofit organization, today signed a partnership agreement with the USEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a project that will test the performance of diesel emissions reduction technology on municipal truck fleets in Houston, Texas, and Indianapolis, Indiana. This project will be funded through EPA's "Emerging Technologies" Program and will be based on products developed by Truck Emission Control Technologies, Inc., (TECT) a developer and manufacturer of "particulate control" technology located in Anderson, Indiana.
The Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center at the University of Houston was selected to perform on-road and lab emission testing for the validation of the new technology in real-world applications. CTE assembled the team and will manage the project.The technology is based on a proprietary composite wire mesh media for the collection of submicron and nano-size particles at high efficiencies. These particles are further incinerated on a continuous basis. The system is augmented with an exhaust gas recirculation for the reduction of nitrogen oxides. CTE's Executive Director, Dan Raudebaugh, explains, "Diesel vehicles such as school buses and city trucks typically produce exhaust laden with particulate matter. This retrofit project is designed to not only significantly reduce particulate and NOx pollution contributing to smog in non-attainment areas, but it will also demonstrate the effectiveness and durability of leading-edge emission control technology. CTE is proud to be involved."
The $300,000 project will focus on the retrofit of seven City trucks in Houston and Indianapolis, followed by field and chassis dynamometer testing and data acquisition on the road. EPA will publish the results when the project concludes in 2010. Anticipated outcomes will lead to broad commercialization of the new product, alleviating particulate and smog pollution in non-attainment areas in the country, as well as the creation of new jobs."
TECT's proprietary wire mesh converters are most promising in urban truck retrofit applications. A total retrofit kit will be the first of its kind capable of reducing particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and diesel toxic substances with high reliability and durability in operation,"said Refaat (Ray) Kammel, TECT's CEO.The University of Houston Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center is a Center of comprehensive research, development, and testing of advanced powertrain and emission aftertreatment technologies. The Center works with local, state, and federal governments, as well as the fuels, engine, and after-treatment industries. The Center is equipped with a 500 HP AC chassis dynamometer test cell, a 600 HP AC engine dynamometer test cell, and a portable gaseous and particulate emission measurement system, as well as research laboratory facilities.
CTE has managed a portfolio of more than $110 million in advanced transportation technologies and fuels projects in partnership with over 500 organizations, including federal, state, and local governments, since 1993. In addition to this EPA project, CTE has recently been awarded contracts for a transportation demand management evaluation project in North Carolina, ahydrogen and fuel cell technology pilot program in Washington state, a hydrogen refueling station and transit bus demonstration in Columbia, SC, and a hydrogen storage design and demonstration project in Warner Robins, GA.
