Vaporizer Arrives

ArvinMeritor Inc. says it expects to produce about 1.4 million diesel particulate filters by 2008, the same year the supplier will ramp up a next-generation solution for particulate aftertreatment.

The supplier plans to grow its share of the market for diesel particulate filters from 20% now to about 33% in 2010.

Leading that growth will be the company's new diesel-fuel vaporizer. The system injects superheated diesel fuel, as a vapor, midway in the exhaust stream to raise the temperature of exhaust gases, making for more efficient burning off of the particles.

The first contract for the vaporizer is for a 2007 program, says Michael Bleidt, vice president and general manager of ArvinMeritor Emissions Technology. Company insiders say the application is a European courier van.

Today, because of the extreme heat requirements, particulate filters are made of silicon carbide, which is several times more expensive than conventional ceramic or metallic catalytic converter substrates.

With ArvinMeritor's diesel vaporizer, the substrate for the particulate filter need not be made of silicon carbide; a ceramic or metallic composition will do.