New emissions-compliant equipment led the news at the huge Conexpo-Con/Agg construction equipment show here March 4-8 as every diesel-equipment supplier contacted was offering new emissions-compliant machinery.
Jan. 1 was the deadline for off-road mobile equipment manufacturers to meet diesel emissions standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The emissions standards are similar to those set by the EPA for on-road highway trucks in that they reduce particulate matter, nitrous oxide and hydrocarbon diesel emissions.
Manufacturers began phasing in equipment with the first of five power-rating categories in 2008 with units rated at 11 horsepower or less. The January 2014 deadline included equipment rated from 175 to 750 hp, effectively covering most medium to heavy pieces of equipment.
Off-road engine and equipment manufacturers used the same emissions-reducing technologies as the on-highway trucks, including selective catalytic reduction, exhaust gas recirculation, diesel particulate filters among them. Compared with on-highway manufacturers, however, construction equipment suppliers had a more complicated path to the final standards because of the diversity of the equipment and applications.
"We learned from our on-road work, but the technology doesn't automatically translate," Mike Brinker, Cummins director of industrial sales, told Truck Fleet Management. "The systems have to be more rugged, and the equipment goes through many more duty cycles. Also, some engines are in back, some are in front, some are up high and some are on the bottom. Some pieces use SCR with a diesel oxidation catalyst, but no DPF, while some others use a DOC with cooled EGR. We have to be flexible to fit into as may pieces of equipment as we can."
"Caterpillar equips every U.S. Tier 4 Final . . . engine with a combination of electronic, fuel, air and aftertreatment components based on engine size, the type of application, and the geographic location in which it will work," said Mike Reinhart, regional marketing manager for Caterpillar Industrial.
Off-road equipment manufacturers — and customers — also are seeing higher costs with the new emissions systems as did their on-road counterparts.
Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman said the company had spent "tens of billions of dollars" over the years developing its emissions systems. Included in that, presumably, was the cost of developing the company's ACERT cooled EGR system used in its highway engines before they were discontinued.
Case Construction spent $200 million just in T4 final research and development, Vice President Jim Hasler said at a press event.
Also as with the on-road sector, construction equipment buyers will be paying more for any new T4F machine. Warren Anderson, brand marketing manager for Case's SSL, CTL and CWL compact loaders, said the emissions will add between 5% to 15% to the cost of new equipment. Cummins' Brinker said equipment prices industrywide could increase anywhere from 5% to 30%, depending on the manufacturer and size of equipment.
End users may see improved fuel efficiency with the cleaner engines, but the amount will depend on the application, the emissions system configuration and other factors, said Brinker.
