Applications

Trucks / Commercial Vehicles
Alantum alloy foam is an innovative and unique substrate perfectly suited for retrofit diesel particulate filters for heavy-duty (HD) and mid-duty (MD) trucks and commercial vehicles.The alloy foam substrate is not only extremely light and durable, but also possesses a very large reactive surface and is 100% open-pore. The result is a high filtration rate at a favourable cost-point.
DPF systems fitted with Alantum alloy foam have impressive characteristics:

  • Excellent filter performance due to optimized exhaust gas flow
  • Low fuel consumption due to low weight and low exhaust back pressure
  • High reliability due to integrated and continuous filter cleaning
  • Optional added safety due to permanent electronic monitoring by a data logger with operation indication on the dashboard
  • Low maintenance costs due to maintenance-free performance in long-haul operation as well as quick exchange, simple removal and inexpensive cleaning if contaminated by engine damage or permanent short-haul operation


Buses
All over the world, transit and school buses play a crucial role in public transportation, getting the population from A to B. In coming years, many countries will be impacted by stricter regulations on exhaust emission. City buses face frequent stop-and-go cycles, and do not run the entire day. This means a low average gas exhaust temperature requiring a special DPF system. Alantum has a unique alloy metal foam that is well-suited to retrofit buses with exhaust gas treatment systems that respond to these specific needs.

Motorsport
Absorption-type mufflers dampen the sound of the exhaust on high performance vehicles and sports cars. Combine this with low backpressue, and these vehicles have even more engine power output. The drawback of these silencers in original design is that they don't last long, even under normal operating conditions. On mid- and rear-engine cars, where the exhaust is of a very short length, the silencer is subject to severe heat and pressure loads. The absorbent material inside muffler-usually consisting of steel, stone or glass fibers-can burn out or melt. As the fibers melt, the silencer becomes less and less effective. Eventually, the silencer stops functioning-until now.
Alantum has developed an exhaust silencer solution for high performance, high revving sports car engines. This silencer will reduce sound as well as, or better than, conventional materials-and it will also last the lifetime of any engine.  All this, and it offers backpressure levels that are at least as low as with conventional absorption type mufflers.
The absorber structure inside the muffler consists of Alantum's highly sophisticated foam material based on a heat and corrosion resistant nickel super alloy. This open pore foam, which is produced in sheets, is wound to a coil with a flow passage in the middle to channel the exhaust gases through.

Stationary Engines
A great number of stationary applications are driven by diesel engines, used to generate electricity and operate compressors and pumps at power and manufacturing plants. More and more stringent regulations for the use of industrial and commercial facilities come up, laying down emissions limits and ambient air quality standards. To meet legal requirements in the future, exhaust gas after-treatment systems will be necessary in conjunction with stationary engines, and particulate filter and denox systems (SCR) will have to be installed in combination or on their own. Alantum supplies the substrate to build economical, high-quality and environmentally-friendly solutions for stationary applications.

Railway
Emission regulations and standards for railway apply to remanufactured and newly manufactured locomotives and locomotive engines. Extreme conditions, high temperatures, dust and strong vibrations are omnipresent in this application. Exhaust gas after-treatment systems in this field need to withstand these harsh environments – the unique and 100% open porous alloy foam from Alantum combines great design flexibility with high performance characteristics like high corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance and high surface area and is therefore a solid element of those systems.

Marine
Exhaust emissions from marine engines contribute heavily to pollution. In order to protect public health and the environment, reducing shipping emissions will be a major force for change in the maritime industry all over the world in the decades to come. The sulphur limit for fuels burnt in emission control areas (ECAs) will drop from 1.0 per cent to 0.10 per cent in 2015, and since 2010, ships also need to comply with EC regulation 2005/33/EC. Ship owners and operators are responsible for enabling their ships to comply with emissions regulations, by using fuel within sulphur limits or by fitting exhaust treatment systems, in particular an SCR technology. A system for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx emissions is currently under development at Alantum.

Biogas
The desulphurisation of biogas is a prerequisite for its efficient use. When it comes to the processing of this renewable energy source, or the after-treatment of sulphurous waste gases, Alantum is developing an innovative catalyst for the treatment of sulphurous waste gases from biogas combustion in pilot injection gas engines and Otto gas engines, which are used in combined heat and power plants. Alantum is working on this project in collaboration with its partners that offer economic and ecological benefits.
The project aims to develop a robust, sulphur-resistant oxidation catalyst. The precious metals platinum and palladium, which are required for waste gas after-treatment, are deposited on the metal foam as a nanofilm by means of direct metallization.
The open porous structure of the metal alloy foam causes permanent micro-turbulence over the entire reaction surface of sulphurous waste gases in the catalyst. Combined with the large reactive surface of the metal foam, a highly-efficient waste-gas purification process is achieved.  In turn, this facilitates a 20% reduction in component volume, resulting in a similar reduction in precious metal usage and a significant cost reduction. In addition, the platinum and palladium can be recovered from the metal surface of the foam more easily and in a more environmentally-friendly manner than from a ceramic surface.

Other
Alloy foam from Alantum is an efficient and economical solution for various applications in the exhaust treatment business and numerous projects are under development.