On Monday, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. announced that it has developed a next-generation diesel engine that reduces exhaust gas emissions to a level that is comparable to a gasoline engine.
The new engine will use a nitrogen oxide (NOx) catalytic converter that will reduce NOx emissions to meet EPA Tier II Bin 5 emissions requirements. It will also use the reductive reaction of ammonia to convert NOx to nitrogen. The two-layer structure of the catalytic converter has one layer to absorb NOx from the exhaust gas and turn a portion of it into ammonia. The other layer absorbs the ammonia and uses it in a reaction to convert the remaining NOx into nitrogen. The converter will be used in Honda’s 2.2 i-CTDi diesel engine.
Honda plans to unveil its new engine in the U.S. within three years.