Sustainable DPF remanufacturing benefits the environment

Remanufacturing is a major contributor to the circular economy, which is aimed at preserving raw materials, cutting energy use and minimising waste, in order to be more sustainable.

As well as returning major units such as engines and gearboxes to an ‘as new’ condition, automotive remanufacturing also includes the cleaning and refurbishment of diesel particulate filters (DPFs), which are fitted to large goods vehicles.

Demand for DPF cleaning has grown substantially in the past decade. This is mainly due to the introduction of the Euro VI emission standards in 2014, which legislate that vehicles can produce no more than 0.01 grams of particulate matter for every 1kWh of engine power.  As a result, all large goods vehicles and other heavy-duty vehicles are equipped with DPFs to ensure Euro VI compliance and reduce air pollution.

The DPF itself is designed to remove toxic particulate matter from the exhaust systems of diesel engines and prevent it from entering the atmosphere.  Particulate matter consists of soot (carbon) and ash, which are by-products of the combustion of fuel and oil additives.  To ensure optimum emission control system performance, DPF-equipped vehicles require the unit to be periodically removed and remanufactured.

As the international market leader in DPF cleaning and remanufacturing, Ceramex has recently opened a 67,000 square-foot facility in Reading to meet growing demand from truck and bus OEMs and LGV fleets.  Fully operational since 2021, the £3 million facility has enabled Ceramex to double its remanufacturing capacity and the business now processes around 8,000 DPFs per month.

DPFs are cleaned using Ceramex’s patented Xpurge^® process which employs a combination of purified water and compressed air to remove the accumulated particulate matter deposits from the filter.  As the deposits are suspended in water during the automated cleaning process, there is no risk of harmful particulates entering the atmosphere, thereby ensuring the safety of operators and the local environment.

Xpurge^® removes between 350g – 450g of soot and ash deposits from each filter, which restores it to 95% or more of brand new functionality.  This complex cleaning process eliminates the need for a brand new DPF, which is very costly to a vehicle operator.

To clean each filter takes around 100 litres of water and Ceramex uses approximately 200,000 litres of water each week.  From this volume, 160,000 litres is cleaned to the highest standard through a rigorous filtration process, so that it can be returned as pure water to the local provider, Thames Water. The remaining 40,000 litres are used by Ceramex to service its office, canteen and washroom facilities.

The resultant soot and ash that’s collected forms a ‘filter cake’ of particulate matter which requires disposal under carefully controlled conditions.  Ceramex ships around five tons of filter cake every two months, approximately 30 tons per year, to waste management provider Grundon.  This undergoes further treatment prior to its disposal as non-hazardous waste at a licensed landfill site.

After cleaning, the condition of each DPF is inspected using Ceramex’s patented Veritex^® inspection system, in order to check its internal condition.  Any moderately damaged filters can be remanufactured by Ceramex using processes such as mechanical repairs, welding or the restoration of the catalytic function.  Non-repairable units are withdrawn and recycled by specialist provider, Hensel Recycling, where both steel from the external DPF structure and metals from the internal ceramic substrate are carefully recovered for reuse.

Barney Milles, Managing Director of Ceramex, commented:

“Despite the advances being made in electric propulsion, there are more than 400,000 diesel-fuelled LGVs operating in the UK, plus thousands more foreign registered trucks, all of which will remain in service for decades to come.  It’s therefore of paramount importance in the quest to improve air quality that operators keep their emissions control systems running as efficiently as possible, in accordance with Euro VI regulations.

Our new remanufacturing facility in Reading will enable us to meet the long-term demand from our pan-European customer base.”