Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1979)
Chris Rink
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
(Phone: 757/864-6786)
NASA’s laser technology may soon be part of your car’s
exhaust system. Originally designed for satellites to measure
the chemical makeup of the Earth’s atmosphere, Low-
Temperature Oxidation Catalysts (LTOC) will soon be available
for commercial use.
Developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.,
LTOC technology is expected to reduce automotive pollution
emissions by approximately 30 percent and the cost of after-
market catalytic converters by 25 percent.
Most modern automobiles are equipped with catalytic
converters that treat engine exhaust before it leaves the
car. Current technology requires the exhaust to reach a high
temperature before the catalytic converter begins to work.
According to Dr. Jeff Jordan, the LTOC team lead at Langley,
LTOC begins to operate at a much lower temperature or as soon
as the car is started.
“NASA’s LTOC addresses some of the shortcomings of
conventional catalysts that we refer to as the cold start
deficiency,” Jordan said. “When you first start your car in
the morning, particularly if you live in colder areas of the
United States, your catalytic converter is cold and all the
pollutants coming from your engine are going directly through
your tailpipe into the environment,” he explained.
Each of the millions of cars in the United States is
potentially a source of air pollution. In larger urban areas,
greater numbers of cars produce more emissions and pollution-
related health and environmental problems. Because of its
low-temperature oxidation capabilities, the NASA catalyst
begins to work almost immediately enabling destruction of
toxic gases even when the catalytic converter is cold.
“If you think about cold cars starting billions of times a
day, a great deal of pollution could be reduced through the
implementation of NASA’s LTOC,” Jordan added.
Most cars are equipped with three-way catalytic converters.
“Three-way” refers to three regulated emissions: carbon
monoxide, an odorless and colorless poisonous gas;
hydrocarbons or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced
from evaporated unburned fuel; and nitrogen oxides, called
“NOx.” The latter two contribute to smog and acid rain.
“The LTOC is a collection of technologies that enables the
destruction of pollutant gasses such as carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbons as well as NOx species,” Jordan said.
To maintain carbon dioxide lasers in space for atmospheric
research, NASA needed a catalyst system that would affect the
oxidation of carbon monoxide, a by-product of carbon-dioxide
laser operation, under the cold vacuum of space. NASA called
on Langley researchers to develop a technology for space-
based carbon-dioxide laser systems.
Although the need for a carbon dioxide laser in space gave
way to solid-state lasers, the NASA research team developed
an oxidation technology that would work at very low
temperatures. Part of the challenge, to adapt LTOC for
internal combustion applications, was to make it effective at
high engine exhaust temperatures. The result was a catalyst
that meets initial Environmental Protection Agency
requirements and California emission standards for the
automotive after-market, does not require a warm-up period to
function, and uses significantly less precious metals than
current commercial products, which reduces the overall cost
of the converter.
“The original NASA LTOC is a unique technology that was
developed for a space-based function,” said Jordan. “But it
has been further developed for a ground-based application
that will improve air quality by significantly reducing
automobile emissions at lower costs.”
Through NASA’s technology commercialization program, Airflow
Catalyst Systems Inc., Rochester, N.Y., is the exclusive
licensee for the NASA LTOC internal combustion application.
Airflow officials expect to have a product on the market
within the next 12 months.
NASA is still accepting licensing applications for other
LTOC technologies including: sensors for carbon monoxide or
volatile organic compounds; removal of carbon monoxide and
formaldehyde from houses and other buildings; and removal of
carbon monoxide and formaldehyde from automobile, aircraft
and other vehicle interiors.
