Consortium Examines Contaminants' Effects on Diesel Emissions

    SAN ANTONIO--March 5, 2001--A new research consortium being formed at Southwest Research Institute(tm) (SwRI(tm)) aims to discover the extent to which certain common lubricating oil components can poison or degrade diesel exhaust aftertreatment devices.
    The consortium, titled "Diesel Aftertreatment Sensitivity to Lubricants (DASL)," is examining the impact of sulfur in lubricants and studying other components including zinc, calcium, barium, magnesium and phosphorus.
    Sulfur in motor oil can originate from crude oil as well as from anti-oxidant and anti-wear additives. Any of those components might degrade the performance of diesel NOx traps, urea- or ammonia-SCR systems, continuously regenerating soot traps, catalyzed soot traps and diesel oxidation catalysts.
    Research from this parametric, or cause-and-effect, study could indicate that some systems can tolerate the presence of lube components or additives within some acceptable range, while other systems might be found to be especially sensitive to poisoning.
    The consortium is designed to help diesel engine manufacturers, petroleum product manufacturers and emissions control suppliers. Cost is $75,000 per year, renewable annually.
    For more information contact Bruce Bykowski, assistant director, Emissions Research Department, 210/522-2937, fax 210/522-3950, or email bbykowski@swri.org.

NOTE: In the term "NOx", the "x" is a subscript character.