Panasonic Corporation (
www.panasonic.com) has set up a new plant in Suzhou, China, through its subsidiary Panasonic Ecology Systems.
Scheduled to start production in December, this will produce a new type of catalyst-coated diesel particulate filter (DPF) that decomposes particulate matter contained in diesel engine exhaust gas.
As diesel emissions regulations have become increasingly stringent — particularly in Japan, the USA and Europe — Panasonic is expanding its automotive catalyst business for cleaning diesel exhaust output.
The new catalyst compound does not use platinum and is energy-efficient; it can decompose particulate matter at a lower temperature than typical catalysts.
Panasonic Ecology Systems recently won its first order from an engine manufacturer in China, where the automotive emissions regulations are being tightened. Its filters will be adopted by existing diesel vehicles and non-road diesel machinery, for which regulations will be strengthened in the future.
To quickly respond to the demand, the Suzhou plant will use the powdered catalyst made at Ecology Systems’ plant in Kasugai City (in central Japan) to coat a DPF base material for the production of the filters.
The company is targeting 10 billion yen in sales in the fiscal year ending March 2019.