HIROSHIMA, Japan—Mazda Motor Corporation has announced that, in March 2009, it will receive a Technical Achievement Award from the Chemical Society of Japan, the largest academic society related to the field of chemistry in Japan. The prize is given to researchers who make a significant contribution to advancing the chemical industry in Japan.

Through its research on combustion mechanisms, Mazda has earned this accolade by independently developing a new catalyst to eliminate particulate matter (soot) from diesel engine exhaust emissions. The new catalyst features a proprietary world-first activation mechanism used in Mazda’s high thermal resistance diesel particulate filter (DPF). It will first appear in the all-new Mazda6 (known as Mazda Atenza in Japan) powered by the MZR-CD 2.2L Turbo diesel engine, which will commence sales in Europe in January 2009. Mazda plans to progressively introduce the catalyst to other models that are equipped with its new clean diesel engine.

Exhaust gases from diesel engines contain soot, which must be eliminated by burning. Catalysts are used to promote their effective combustion, but the temperature of the exhaust gases must be high. This requires the injection of additional fuel, which reduces overall fuel economy. Mazda’s newly developed technology improves the efficiency of soot combustion by enabling the easy movement of oxygen stored within the catalyst. The extra oxygen can be supplied on-demand to drastically increase the rate of particulate matter combustion. This reduces the amount of fuel needed to burn off the soot, resulting in better fuel economy, lower CO2 emissions, and cleaner exhaust gases.

The award ceremony will be held on March 28, 2009, at Nihon University (Chiba prefecture) and will include presentations by the award recipients. In April 2008, Mazda announced it would receive a research award from the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan for related technical achievements.

Further information:

-	The Chemical Society of Japan:  http://www.chemistry.or.jp/index-e.html
-	Mazda’s environmental technology:  https://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/env/