Product
NGK to Bolster Production Facilities for Ceramic Products for Automotive Exhaust Gas Purifiers in Poland
April 25, 2014
NGK´s First Mass Production of gasoline particulate filter (GPF) for direct-injection gasoline engine vehicles
NGK INSULATORS, LTD. (President: Taro Kato; Headquarters: Nagoya, Japan) has announced its decision to bolster production facilities for cordierite ceramic products to purify automotive exhaust at NGK CERAMICS POLSKA Sp. z o. o. (Gliwice, Silesian Province, Poland; "NGK CERAMICS POLSKA"), a manufacturing subsidiary in Poland, in response to an increase in demand in Europe. NGK will increase production of large-size HONEYCERAM® substrates for automobile catalytic converters for use in diesel vehicles, and will also start production of cordierite diesel particulate filters (DPF). Furthermore, NGK also plans to commence its first mass production of gasoline particulate filters (GPF) for removing particulate matter from the exhaust of direct-injection gasoline engine vehicles.
NGK CERAMICS POLSKA was established in 2003 as a production site for silicon carbide (SiC) DPFs. In January 2014, a new plant for producing cordierite large-size HONEYCERAM was completed and production started.
With the above-mentioned capital expenditure, NGK plans to establish a new block on the present site, adjacent to the large-scale HONEYCERAM production block to boost its production capacity for cordierite products from 8 million units per year (HONEYCERAM equivalent) to 15 million. Production is scheduled to start in January 2016, with a planned investment of 95 million euro.
GPFs are ceramic filters for removing particulate matter emitted from direct-injection gasoline engines. They have been developed based on DPF technology. Under the Euro 6 emissions standard to be enforced from September 2014, a restriction on the particulate matter concentration from gasoline engine vehicles will be added to the restriction on diesel engine vehicles. As a result, direct-injection gasoline vehicles are expected to require particulate matter filters since they emit more particulate matter than ordinary gasoline engine vehicles. With demand for GPFs expected to increase in Europe as a result, NGK has decided to initiate its first mass production operation at NGK CERAMICS POLSKA.
NGK supplies a variety of ceramic products for exhaust gas purification to leading manufacturers of diesel engines, heavy vehicles, passenger vehicles, and construction machinery. To ensure an accurate response to demand trends for each product in each country, the Company has established an efficient global production and supply system with nine production sites in eight countries around the world, including Japan. At the same time, NGK has conducted capital expenditures to bolster its production facilities in Japan and overseas in order to keep pace with increasing demand. NGK will continue to develop high-function products that can cope with increasingly tough global exhaust gas regulations, while building an optimal system to ensure a stable supply of products to the global market.
Design drawing of the completed NGK CERAMICS POLSKA Sp. z o. o.
