Exhibit 10a



                   Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights

                      Fuel-Tech N.V. to Platinum Plus, Inc.

                             As of November 5, 1997


     Fuel-Tech N.V., a Netherlands Antilles limited liability company "Assignor"
(the "Company"), does hereby, as a capital contribution, assign to its
wholly-owned subsidiary Platinum Plus, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the
"Assignee"), all of the Companys right, title and interest whatsoever in the
United States of America and in any other jurisdiction worldwide, in and to:

     1. That certain License Agreement effective as of October 28, 1994 between
the Company and Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc. (the "License").

     2. All of the intellectual property, including patents, patent applications
technology, data and know-how, set forth on Schedule A to the License.

     3. The assignee agrees to accept this assignment and to hold Assignor
harmless from any cost or expense required to prosecute, maintain or exploit the
property described in Section 2 above.

     4. Assignor agrees to cooperate with Assignee at the expense of the
Assignee in perfecting the assignments made herein and to execute and deliver to
the Assignee any further agreements, assignments, instruments, certificates and
other documents deemed necessary or appropriate for that purpose by the
Assignee.

     5. By this assignment the Assignee is the owner of the assigned property in
all respects and may deal with such property as it shall deem appropriate.



                                 FUEL-TECH N.V.


Dated: December 19, 1997         By: /s/ Jeremy D. Peter-Hoblyn
                                     --------------------------------------
                                         Jeremy D. Peter-Hoblyn
                                         Managing Director

Agreed to this 19 day of December, 1997

Platinum Plus, Inc.

By: /s/ James M. Valentine
    ------------------------------
        James M. Valentine
        Executive Vice President







State of Connecticut :
                     )  ss Stamford
County of Fairfield  :


The within instrument was acknowledged before me this 19th day of December 1997
by Jeremy D. Peter-Hoblyn, Managing Director of Fuel-Tech N.V., a Netherlands
Antilles corporation, and James M. Valentine, Executive Vice President of
Platinum Plus, Inc., a Delaware corporation, on behalf of their respective
corporations.



                                 /s/ Charles W. Grinnell
                                 --------------------------------------
                                     Charles W. Grinnell
                                     Commissioner of the Superior Court