Cat Trucks Receives ADR 80-03 Certification for Its Proven Cat C15 Engine
Engine Reduces Emissions with No Impact on Performance or Fuel Economy
Sydney, Australia – 9 December 2011– Cat Trucks Australia has received regulatory certification of its Cat® ACERT C15 engine as meeting ADR 80-03 emissions standards for use in Australia.
“This important milestone confirms that we will continue to offer the largely unchanged and customer-preferred Cat C15 engine, which is available only through Cat Trucks Australia and has the service support of the Cat dealer network,” said Bill Fulton, Cat Trucks Australia managing director.
“We can confirm that there will be no impact on performance or fuel economy in the C15 engine’s operating range.”
The Cat C15 ADR80-03 engine will deliver up to 550 HP and 1850 Lb-ft of torque. The updated Cat ACERT C15 engine is based on the well-proven EPA04 Cat C15 platform. The engine software has been recalibrated to reduce emissions. No hardware changes have been made to the engine except for a crankcase breather and the addition of a passive diesel particulate filter (DPF) system.
The package will also include a Cat DPF monitoring system to continuously monitor backpressure and exhaust temperatures.
Development Programme Focused on Australian Requirements
The engine development program for the updated Cat C15 was conducted in Australia and optimised for the ADR 80-03 requirements.
“Our goal was to assure that the emissions changes required by ADR 80-03 would not result in a fuel penalty under normal driving conditions,” said Terran Barber, project manager for Orbital Corporation, which supported Caterpillar during the development of the C15 emissions solution. “After analysing a range of available technologies, the team determined that by adding an additional DPF and a crankcase breather, as well as making some calibration changes, the C15 engine would meet the ADR 80-03 requirements with no fuel consumption penalty under the speeds and loads that are normal in the Australian market.”
The emissions solution does not require the use of EGR or SCR technology, a significant advantage for Cat Trucks. Instead, a 95 percent-plus PM (particulate matter) reduction is achieved using well-proven dual DPFs with passive regeneration technology. Ongoing in-country testing has demonstrated that passive regeneration is extremely effective at all loads and speeds, negating the need for a complex active regeneration system.
“The solution achieved by Cat Trucks offers multiple advantages,” Barber said. “It is simple, it has little to no impact on fuel consumption, and it does not affect the engine’s durability.”
Extensive Testing Under Way; Results So Far Are Positive
Testing of emissions controls on the updated Cat C15 engine is already under way, with encouraging results to date. The first test unit has already undergone extensive in-market dyno testing, as well as more than 10,000 km of on-road testing in a Cat® CT630 prime mover.
“Cat Trucks, as always, is pursuing a very thorough testing programme,” said René Bueman, Cat’s test driver who has been conducting the on-road testing. “Our current testing programme attempts to find a point at which the exhaust system’s back-pressures might compromise the engine’s performance.”
To find that point, Bueman noted, he has been driving the CT630 under worst-case conditions for producing soot and clogging up the system. “This includes driving bobtail and empty-trailer running, in both heavy peak-hour traffic jams and stop-start conditions, and in all of these conditions, the back-pressures are remaining normal,” Bueman said.
Test results to date also confirm that no active regeneration is required for the system, as the dual DPFs are cleaning themselves at about 240 degrees Celsius, far lower than the engine’s peak operating temperature of 600 degrees or more.
The next phase of the on-road programme, which is expected to conclude by January, will test the C15 under typical working conditions on a range of routes in various environments throughout Australia. Meanwhile, the towing weight of the CT630 test truck will incrementally increase up to 68 000kg that will also include B-double operations.
“We expect this next phase will also show strong results, as the CT630 will be running at temperatures required to maintain the exhaust system, during the hottest time of the year, whilst always maintaining the emissions standards,” Bueman said.
In addition, the C15 is demonstrating excellent fuel economy. “These results are consistent with the vehicle’s low tare weight, which is lowest in its class, as well as its outstanding aerodynamics” Bueman said.
After the formal on-road testing is concluded, three units will be fitted for customer fleet testing, also in the very near term.
“Our extensive product development and testing program for this engine has been focused on meeting the stringent requirements of Australian customers for power, fuel economy, reliability and durability,” Fulton said. “As always, we are fully committed to providing best value products and best-in-class Cat dealer support to our customers in Australia.”