PSI Colloquium Umicore Innovations for Clean Mobility Wilfried

PSI Colloquium Umicore Innovations for Clean Mobility Wilfried

PSI Colloquium
Umicore Innovations for Clean Mobility
Wilfried Müller
Senior Vice-President, Group Research and Development,
Olen, Belgium
DATE :
COFFEE:
SEMINAR:
PLACE:
THURSDAY, July 17, 2014
11:00 am
11:15 am
WHGA/001
Abstract:
Umicore has unique expertise to support the growth of clean mobility around the world. We
provide the automotive industry with technologies in emission abatement as well as materials for
use in the batteries and fuel cells that are the enablers of electrified transportation. Our recycling
offering is also unique as we are able to recycle automotive catalysts, spent batteries and fuel cell
materials.
See also page 2 and 3
Contact: M. Frei-Hardt, 5115
Umicore Innovations for Clean Mobility
Wilfried Müller
Senior Vice-President, Group Research and Development
Umicore has unique expertise to support the growth of clean mobility around the world. We provide the
automotive industry with technologies in emission abatement as well as materials for use in the
batteries and fuel cells that are the enablers of electrified transportation. Our recycling offering is also
unique as we are able to recycle automotive catalysts, spent batteries and fuel cell materials.
Automotive Catalysts
Since the 1970s the number of vehicles including trucks and buses on our roads has grown enormously.
Over the years governments have introduced air quality standards to reduce the harmful effects of
automotive emissions on human health and today almost all new cars produced in the world contain an
automotive catalyst. In Europe the new Euro 6 standard aims among others to lower emissions of NOx
(nitrogen oxides) in diesel cars by more than 50% and also targets emissions of soot particles in gasoline
engines.
Umicore has been helping vehicle manufacturers reduce emissions for 40 years and its catalysts can be
found on around one in every three cars produced worldwide today.
Technology firsts: Umicore was the first company to develop NOx storage catalysts for fuel efficient lean
burn gasoline engines and diesel engines in North America, catalysed diesel particulate filters and also
diesel catalysts that were able to use palladium instead of platinum.
Rechargeable Battery Materials
It wasn’t that long ago that electric cars were a distant dream. Today they are becoming reality due to
advances in battery technology. The rapid technological development of rechargeable batteries –
particularly lithium-ion – has allowed applications such as mobile phones to become not only a lot more
powerful but also more compact. Umicore is a world leader in the materials technology that has made
these advances in lithium-ion battery technology possible. Our innovation has enabled the batteries to
reach higher and higher levels of performance. These batteries are now being able to be used in hybrid
and electric cars, which have more exacting requirements in terms of the battery’s weight, power and
resistance to shock and heat.
Umicore has a leading position as cathode material maker today and has the broadest product portfolio
covering the materials of choice for all current and future applications of Li-ion batteries with a wide
multi-chemistry portfolio of advanced cathode materials: LCO compounds, NMC and NCA compounds
and LFP compounds. > 50% of Umicore products on the market for less than 3 years.
Fuel Cells
Fossil fuels do not only pollute the environment, they are also likely to run out in the not too distant
future. Hydrogen could be a good alternative: it is abundantly available and actually offers the
perspective of allowing significant reductions in CO2 emissions. The mixture of hydrogen with oxygen
results in the production of energy with the only by-product being water. Fuel cells are power plants
where this reaction happens. They could be used to power the environmentally friendly car of the
future; doing away with the problem of exhaust gases and replace them with pure water!
Such fuel cells also offer the potential to be much more economical and efficient compared to
traditional combustion engines and will significantly cut the dependence of our economy on oil and
other fossil fuels. There are still plenty of practical barriers to large scale commercial use but the future
is promising.
Umicore focuses on the development of electro-catalyst materials for use in fuel cells which trigger the
chemical reaction of hydrogen with oxygen.
To that end Umicore joined forces with Solvay in 2006. Our SolviCore joint-venture develops MEA’s, the
‘heart’ of the fuel cell, the reactor where hydrogen reacts with oxygen.
Metals enjoy eternal life?
Metals can be infinitely recycled without losing any of their intrinsic properties. This is important in a
world where the availability of metals, like many other resources, is limited. This is a particularly
pressing issue at a time when we face seemingly ever-increasing demand for metals. Modern electronic
applications for example, typically rely on more than 60 components - six times the number in the ‘80s.
Umicore’s recycling offering is unique as we are able to recycle automotive catalysts, spent batteries and
fuel cell materials.
To see how Umicore contributes to cleaner mobility:
http://www.umicore.com/en/media/videoLibrary/GreenWeek2013/
http://www.umicore.com/en/media/videoLibrary/caseStudyHanau/caseStudyHanau.htm
http://www.umicore.com/reporting/management-review/segment-review/energy-materials/case-charging-up-in-china/
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Wilfried Mueller, Senior Vice-President, Group Research and Development
Umicore
Group Research & Development - Watertorenstraat 33 -2250 Olen, Belgium
Phone: +32 14 24 52 00 / mobile :+32 4708 86 579
Phone: +49 6181 59 4018 / mobile: +49 171 3246 567
[email protected] - www.umicore.com