Engines: Ready to go

The European Union (EU) Stage V regulations are scheduled to take effect in January 2019, requiring new emission limits for diesel and spark-ignited engines used in a variety of industrial applications. For the first time, engines below 19 kilowatts (kW) and above 560 kW will be included in the legislation.

While current Stage IV regulations limit the overall mass of particle emissions, Stage V will also affect the number of particles emitted.

The recent ConExpo exhibition in Las Vegas, US, was the platform for many new engine announcements in preparation for Stage V. Many of the major manufacturers had ‘Stage V ready’ engines on display to attract the interest of the 128,000 attendees of this year’s show.  

US-based Cummins unveiled the next generation of “ultra-clean construction, mining and materials handling engines to the US market.”

The integration of Cummins’ new Single Module aftertreatment system – with combustion and air-handling technology – allows the F3.8, B4.5, B6.7 and L9 engines to be Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR)-free. This engine range can power construction equipment from 75 to 321 kilowatts (kW).

Hugh Foden, executive director of off-highway business at Cummins, says, “Although the Stage V regulations do not directly affect North America, Cummins technology enables us to offer significant product and technology enhancements to construction equipment manufacturers for 2019. This next generation of products will appeal to every OEM looking for significantly improved performance with lower installed costs for Tier 4 Final, as well as those needing a simpler approach to export to Europe and lesser regulated regions.”

For manufacturing giant Liebherr, all of the engine models can be combined with the Liebherr SCRFilter system to comply with Stage V. The latest models presented to the market in the medium power range up to 560 kW are the 2019 6-cylinder 12 litre D956, 13.5 litre D966 and the D976 with 18 litres displacement.

One of the major benefits of Liebherr’s modular engine concept, the company says, is that customers will save time and costs in integrating the Stage V solution into their machines as the overall dimensions and interfaces during installation stay the same. This approach also allows customers to use the same machine design for various emission standards.

The new 6-cylinder engines (available from 2019) all have a ‘further optimised’ combustion and are consumption and weight-optimised. D956 and D966 will offer a reduced oil-consumption for elongated service intervals.

Heavy off-duty

A new engine that is designed for use in heavy off-duty highway machines is the C9.3B from Caterpillar. The industrial 9.3 litre engine is said to deliver 205 to 340 break kilowatt (bkW) and 2,081 Newton metre (Nm) torque. It will meet Stage V, Tier 4 Final and below emissions standards.

The C9.3B gives 18 percent more power and torque and has a “simplified and 30% smaller after treatment compared to the previous stage/tier.”

Victoria Reeves, industrial product marketing manager at Caterpillar, says, “We meet emission standards while delivering increased power density, fuel efficiency, and reduced complexity to add real value for our customers. Our common platforms ensure maximum uptime and enable our customers to meet worldwide emissions standards from one machine platform.

Another new launch is from Perkins, part of Caterpillar, with a family of 4-cylinder, 2.8 to 3.6 litre diesel engines giving 45 to 100 kW. Named the ‘Synchro’ range, it will meet multiple emissions standards including Stage V and Tier 4 Final.

The new 2.8 and 3.6 litre engines offer high power and torque density to give Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) the opportunity to move to smaller, more compact engines, explains the UK-based engine manufacturer. The range is engineered to integrate into more than 80 different machine models.

Allister Dennis, new product manager at Perkins, says, “The recent advances in fuel systems, control systems, predictive engineering and after treatment ensures our new 2.8 and 3.6 litre engines are the right solution for off-highway machines like wheeled loaders, tractors, telehandlers and excavators.

“We’ve now started work on this family of engines to give us and our customers plenty of development and field validation time before Stage V introduction.”

Perkins has also expanded its industrial engine range with four new products in the 9-18 litre category. The addition of a 9 litre 1700 series, a 13 litre 2200 series, a 15 litre 2500 series and an 18 litre 2800 series, is said by the company to “more than double” the power range previously offered by Perkins, extending it from 8.2 to 597 kW.

The PowerTech line-up of Stage V ready engines from John Deere includes 2.9, 4.5, 6.8, 9 and 13.6 litre engine displacements with ratings of 36 to 448 kW.

The first of its next generation engines is the 13.6 litre model that was revealed at the ConExpo show in Las Vegas last month. The company says that its engineers developed this engine “to meet the needs of both its internal applications and global OEMs.”

The goal was to increase the power of the 13.6 litre engine, but not the size. John Deere achieved reduced package sizes with ‘next generation’ after treatment solutions that provide up to a 39 percent reduction in size and 57 percent reduction in weight, the company says.

Production of the 13.6 litre engine is planned to begin in 2020.

Volvo Penta’s Stage V concept was also introduced at the recent ConExpo. As with previous emission steps, the line-up for the company includes all five engines - D5, D8, D11, D13, and D16 – providing a power range of 105 to 565 kW. On display was the 6-cylinder D11 engine, with power output ranging from 235 to 285 kW, and a matched exhaust after treatment system (EATS) to showcase the Stage V offering.

The engine concept

The entire current industrial engine range from Sweden-based manufacturer Scania - 9, 13 and 16 litres, from 202 to 566 kW - is adopted to Stage V. The company says that it had a lot of “parallel concept developments” to find the best solution, drawing on experience from its Stage IV/Tier 4 Final concepts but also from its truck division.

Anders Liss, VP of sales at Scania Engines, says, “We have been able to remove the EGR [Exhaust Gas Recirculation] and other parts to make an easier and more robust installation of the engine for the customer, with combined SCR [Selective Catalytic Reduction] and DPF [Diesel Particulate Filter] to achieve the regulations.

“We have chosen to use DPF because of the experience gained from this method in our truck division, and to be able to fulfil the amount of particles. Together with the SCR equipment, this gives us the possibility to get a very quick and strong engine.”

Many manufacturers, such as Scania, have gone down the route of getting rid of the EGR in favour of using the combination of a SCR and DPF for Stage V. These companies include Liebherr, Cummins, John Deere, Cat and Volvo Penta.

Liebherr avoided the use of an internal EGR for both Stage IV and V as it found that it resulted in an oversized cooling and in soot contamination of the oil.

Martin Ryley, manager of marketing services and sales engineering (EMEA) at John Deere Power Systems, says, “John Deere has been employing DPF technology since Interim Tier 4/Stage III B, resulting in more than 425 million hours of field experience. We have demonstrated and proven the use of DPF technology in our engines for many internal and external off-highway applications, and will continually refine our system to make enhancements that strengthen application flexibility for customers.”

For Volvo Penta, however, the use of uncooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) will be the option for Stage V. An electrical exhaust pressure governor (EPG) and inlet throttle enable the system to function without the need to inject fuel into the exhaust stream to raise the temperature.

With this approach, Volvo Penta says that there is “no high temperature regeneration due to the fact that sulphur regeneration in the SCR catalyst is not required; only soot regeneration is needed to clean the diesel particulate filter (DPF).”

When asked about any other issues with engines and the regulations surrounding them, Liebherr says, “As a manufacturer of both machinery and engines, we believe that further reductions in emissions, especially of CO₂, can be better achieved through optimisation of the whole drive train and alternative fuels like PODE than through ever-stricter regulations of the engines.

“In our opinion, further optimisation of components, usage-dependent adaptation and optimisation of the electronic controls might bring improvements of more than 15% in mobile applications.”