MECA concludes diesel emission controls evaluation program

19 July 1999

Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association (MECA) published a new report titled "Demonstration Of Advanced Emission Control Technologies Enabling Diesel-Powered Heavy-Duty Engines To Achieve Low Emission Levels". The report presents the results of a test program conducted at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) designed to evaluate the performance of a variety of exhaust control technologies on a heavy duty diesel engine.

The emission control devices tested in the program included: diesel oxidation catalysts, diesel particulate filters, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst, fuel additives (fuel borne catalysts), and combinations of the above technologies. The tests were conducted on a 1998 12.7 L Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC), 400 horsepower, Series 60 diesel engine using #2 diesel fuels of 368 ppm and 54 ppm sulfur content. The program included measurements on the US Transient FTP cycle, as well as measurement of off-cycle emissions.

Some of the program conclusions include the following:

• Commercially available diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) enabled the engine to achieve PM emission levels below 0.05 g/bhp-hr, or 50% below the current 0.1 g/bhp-hr standard. Use of fuel additives with the DOC provided further PM reductions.
• Diesel particulate filters (DPF) reduced PM by over 70%.
• SCR technology enabled the engine to achieve NOx+NMHC levels below 1.5 g/bhp-hr; the current NOx standard is 4 g/bhp-hr, and the 2004 standard is 2.5 g/bhp-hr NOx+NMHC.

Download the report (pdf, 343k)

Source: MECA