Many retrofitted diesel particulate filters fail German tests
With German cities on the verge of banning older diesel vehicles from central areas at the beginning of the year, many drivers are getting particulate filters installed on their cars. The German government offers subsidies of up to €330 for the installations. In order to qualify for the rebates, the filters must be able to remove at least thirty percent of particulates from the exhaust stream. Drivers of older, more polluting cars also have to pay higher road taxes.Therein lies the rub. German testing organization TÜV Hessen has been testing aftermarket particulate filters and the results aren't good. Some of the filters made by Bosal, Tenneco and GAT removed only from zero to ten percent of soot. The filters are now being re-tested, but in the meantime installers are at a stand still. The manufacturers have already pulled some of the disputed units off the market. It's expected that the market for aftermarket particulate filters in Germany could hit 1.5 million units in the next two years.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phil L. 8:30AM (11/01/2007)
I'm not terribly surprised to hear this, though this news showed up more quickly after the original article than I expected. I had guessed we'd be hearing about ineffective particulate filter retrofits a year or two from now.
Adding emissions equipment to an engine design that wasn't designed for it has great potential for uneven results. This is particularly true when attempting a mass replacement with little model-specific engineering work. Adding the same type of particulate filter without accounting for the differences of each vehicle is asking for problems.
Of course, there is also opportunity: Develop a particulate filter system that can be successfully adapted to a wide range of existing vehicles. Make sure this system gets a reputation for dependable operation for many years with little attention.
It doesn't look like current technology is yet up to the task...
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Phil L. 8:36AM (11/01/2007)
Something I missed the first time I read this:
>> Drivers of older, more polluting cars also have to pay higher road taxes.
Interesting: I'm not familiar with any similar taxes elsewhere in the world that are based on "older, more polluting cars".
Does anyone know about other taxes like this? Feedback on what effect they've had?
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corkypue 9:22PM (11/17/2007)
There is a company that makes a product that can handle your retrofit problems. Its called Enviromental Solutions Worldwide. They have partnered with a German compamy call PURItech GmbH to introduce this new diesel emission control technology. Ckeck it out.
http://www.cleanerfuture.com/
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