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DIESEL ENGINES Highlighting Diesel Technology This year's bauma trade show in Munich, Germany, offered engine builders a showcase for the latest technologies, ready to meet the next stage in emissions-control requirements. By Simon Walker, European Editor compressors, gensets, construction equipment and mining equipment, with the various applications making use of virtually the entire Deutz product range: both waterand air-cooled, the company said. While bauma's principal focus is on construction, the bauma mining section of the show continues to grow as manufacturers give greater recognition to mining's importance in the equipment marketplace. Diesel-engine exhibitors included OEMs such as Caterpillar, Liebherr and Volvo, as well as specialist engine suppliers, Cummins, Deutz and MTU. Each had plenty to say about their products, and their suitability for meeting the new generation of emission-control requirements. The Road to Emissions Control Diesel engine builders have taken different approaches to solve a technological paradox posed by increasingly stringent standards for diesel exhaust emissions: Focusing on reductions in NOx results in increased diesel particulate matter (PM), while lowering PM levels will result in higher NOx concentrations in the exhaust. (Photo courtesy of Volvo Penta) With the latest deadline in the current round of emissions-control tightening just around the corner, the world's dieselengine manufacturers have been working to develop and verify the technologies needed to meet the new requirements. Not, of course, that this is a bad thing—the hazards posed to health and safety (and from time to time, visibility) by "dirty diesels" are largely a thing of the past. Modern technology produces engines that are much cleaner and, most importantly in an environment where fuel prices continue to rise, much more fuel-efficient. It is perhaps natural for industry-watchers to focus on the top end of the market when looking at engine technology. After all, big haulers, loaders and dozers need big engines, and it is easy to be carried away by the sheer size and power capabilities of a piece of machinery that can output upward of 3,000 kW. However, that view does a dis46 E&MJ; • JULY 2013 service to the much larger engine-market segment that powers mid-range equipment such as hydraulic excavators, mobile crushing and screening plant, drill rigs, graders, wheel loaders, and trucks of a more modest capacity. In volume terms, this generates much more demand than the ultra-class segment ever can, with equipment manufacturers able to follow two main routes for powering their products: either developing and building increasingly sophisticated engines themselves or relying on specialist engine suppliers to do so. To give an idea of the size and longevity of the third-party supply system, at bauma, German engine manufacturer Deutz took the opportunity to highlight its remarkable relationship with Atlas Copco. This year, the company will deliver the 500,000th Deutz engine to Atlas Copco in a relationship that goes back to 1956. Typical applications include power units for At this stage, it is perhaps worth a reminder of exactly what has been involved in the introduction of emissions-control regulations for the off-highway market since it first began in the 1990s. In the United States, Tier 1 standards for new offroad diesel engines more than 37 kW (50 hp) were phased in between 1996 and 2000, with Tiers 2 and 3 being introduced between 2000 and 2008. In general, up to now these standards have been met through advanced engine design, with only limited use of exhaust-gas after-treatment by oxidation catalysts. Tier 4, however, scheduled for introduction between 2008 and 2015, has much more stringent requirements for emissions of both nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). Tier 4i (interim) preceded the Tier 4f (final) requirements, with new engines producing less than 560 kW required to meet Tier 4i by 2011 and Tier 4f by 2014. Manufacturers have had an additional year to bring their larger engines into compliance. The exception to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's requirements is for diesel engines used in underground equipment, for which the Mine Safety and Health Administration has the responsibility for setting PM emission standards. www.e-mj.com