Reducing N[O.sub.x] with NOxFox: new catalytic filter from MemPro designed for smaller outdoor power equipment engines

Diesel Progress North American Edition, Oct, 2008

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In light of the new EPA regulations for small engines, MemPro Ceramics Corp. has introduced the NOxFox catalytic filter for outdoor power equipment. The company will showcase the filter this month to the lawn and turf industry at the GIE-Expo show in Louisville, Ky.

"We're coming to market with the goal of meeting the regulations the EPA has set," said John Finley, CEO of the Copper Mountain, Colo., company. "We're confident it (the NOxFox) is going to meet the requirements."

Designed to reduce N[O.sub.x], CO and HC exhaust emissions, the NOxFox catalytic filter incorporates both micro and nanofibers. The nanofiber technology uses ceramic fibers with diameters averaging one-thousandth of the thickness of the human hair. According to Finley, this provides a large surface area to catalyze N[O.sub.x] gases.

"You've got 1 sq.ft, in this little tiny package, so the exhaust that's going through has plenty of opportunity to contact the catalyst. As the gas comes out of the engine and flows through this filter, it comes in contact with these nanofibers of catalyst. There are so many and they are so small, they have a huge surface area that makes this a very efficient catalytic converter."

The NOxFox filter is designed to integrate into the exhaust system of a Class 1 or 2 engine, which the EPA has estimated yearly sales of 14 million engines. The filter is mounted within the muffler and can be equipped on small engine-powered equipment such as lawnmowers, snow blowers, power washers, leaf blowers and chainsaws.

For the lawnmower market, the installation is inside the muffler. "In many gas-powered lawnmowers the exhaust is simply an empty metal cavity," said Finley. "There's plenty of space to put this small, lightweight, cotton-like filter."

MemPro compared the NOxFox catalytic filter to a cotton ball both in weight and structure and cited the economical cost of the filter. "We use one-twentieth of the amount of catalyst," said Finley. "Catalyst materials are very expensive. We are able to use one-twentieth of the amount so we have a tremendous cost savings to manufacture the product that we're passing on to our customers."

According to Finley, the NOxFox catalytic filter technology is sizeable to any type of application and can be used with multiple fuel types such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas and kerosene.

MemPro received $700,000 in grants from the National Science Foundation for the development of the NOxFox nanofiber technology. The NOxFox catalyst is developed and produced at MemPro's Development and Production Center in Akron, Ohio. The company also has a Product Solutions Center in Broomfield, Colo.

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The MemPro's filter family also includes the Soot Grabber catalyzed diesel particulate filter, the FilterHot for pollution reduction of electric power generating facilities, the Maxo-Surface catalyst, the nCATfiber material used to optimize catalyst usage and the ATTAXX filters for food and beverage and oil and gas filtration.