The Business of Tackling NOx

NOx (oxides of nitrogen) is a harmful pollutant. It is emitted from a variety of sources ranging from power plants and waste incineration applications to stationary diesel engines, marine vessels and heavy duty diesel vehicles (like trucks and buses). Johnson Matthey manufactures a range of catalyst technology and emission control systems to control NOx. These include coated catalysts, extruded catalysts and plate catalysts. Our clever technologies perform selective catalytic reduction (SCR) chemistry to convert the nasty NOx into harmless nitrogen and water by reaction with a reducing agent such as ammonia.

Controlling NOx from heavy duty diesel (HDD) engines is very much driven by legislation and today applies to HDD vehicles in Europe, the USA, Japan, South Korea and Brazil. Over the next few years legislation will tighten further in these regions and will necessitate the use of additional catalysts. New legislation will be introduced for vehicles in developing markets such as China and India and, from 2011, legislation will come into force for the non-road market which includes vehicles such as those used in construction and agriculture (diggers, tractors etc.). This will require the fitment of aftertreatment systems and so extend the market for Johnson Matthey’s products.

There are also a number of new market opportunities to control the emissions of NOx and other pollutants from stationary applications. These include coal fired power stations, power generation applications (engines, diesel generators, gas turbines) and industrial process applications such as waste to energy, cement kilns, steam reforming plants etc. Despite its name, the so-called ‘stationary’ market also includes applications such as ships, small utility engines (e.g. non-handheld lawn and garden equipment) and locomotive trains.

Controlling NOx from coal fired power plants is an expanding market and within this, a key region for growth is China – the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal. China has large coal reserves and as it strives towards energy independence it is keen to utilise these reserves for power generation applications. Today, coal fired power plants account for some 70% of all China’s NOx emissions and whilst there is currently no formal legislation in place to control NOx emissions, approvals for new plants in China are only granted on the condition that SCR technology to control NOx is installed. Furthermore, the State Environmental Protection Administration regulations require power plants to adopt SCR and official regulations will be effective from 2011.

As legislation to control NOx continues to tighten around the world, Johnson Matthey is uniquely placed as the only supplier of coated, extruded and plate type SCR catalysts to combat this pollutant. We are well positioned to succeed in these emerging NOx control markets and make a major contribution to clean air by dramatically reducing emissions of harmful NOx from HDD and stationary applications all around the world.

The Business of Tackling NOx

Other Product Case Studies