ArvinMeritor, Inc. announced that it has established a commercial vehicle Selective Catalytic Reduction/muffler system (SCR) production manufacturing cell at its Roermond facility in The Netherlands.
The Roermond site previously had been solely dedicated to manufacturing products for the company's Light Vehicle Systems (LVS) business group and will continue to produce emissions systems for passenger cars.
SCR systems help reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions from commercial vehicle exhaust through a catalytic process that utilizes urea as a reagent to convert NOx to harmless nitrogen gas. The SCR systems will be supplied to ArvinMeritor OE customers beginning in early 2005. In March, the company announced an agreement with IVECO to provide 28,000 SCR systems annually for the truck maker's Cursor series of trucks and specialty vehicles.
"We're excited to be bringing this advanced emissions technology on line to serve the needs of our commercial vehicle customers, who will face stricter emissions regulations in Europe beginning next year," said Pedro Ferro, vice president and general manager, ArvinMeritor Commercial Vehicle Exhaust.
"These SCR systems have been designed to help our customers meet the 2005 Euro IV and 2008 Euro V new engine NOx requirements, and are capable of meeting the U.S. EPA's 2007 commercial vehicle emissions regulations, as well."
The $3 million SCR manufacturing cell consists of a catalyst substrate canning cell, an SCR muffler fabrication cell and various additional plant infrastructure modifications. In place by February 2005, with start of production next September, the cell will occupy a portion of the facility's 10,000-square-meter floor space. Operators will be drawn from the plant's current employee base of 257 workers. Site Manager Lei Bours will be responsible for its operation.