Officials of Caterpillar, Cummins, and International Truck and Engine have announced that their companies' engines will meet 2007 United States Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards. Here is what each said:
Caterpillar
“Our goal is to provide the North American trucking industry with engines that meet EPA's 2007 regulations without sacrificing performance or fuel efficiency,” said Richard L Thompson, Caterpillar group president responsible for the engine division. “We can meet EPA's 2007 regulations and customer needs without SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction). Our ACERT (Advanced Combustion Emissions Reduction Technology) provides a significant breakthrough because our customers will avoid the burden of complex and costly technologies associated with SCR technology.”
SCR is an engine aftertreatment technology that requires an ammonia-based urea fluid to be injected into the exhaust to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in diesel engines.
Cummins
“Cummins remains on a very focused research and engineering technology path started in the early 1990s to ensure that the cooled-EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) direction we chose would be the right technology for the US heavy-duty truck market for 2007. We want the trucking industry to have confidence in our approach for meeting these emissions standards. The experience we have on our current cooled-EGR engines combined with our product development efforts confirms our decision,” said John Wall, Cummins vice-president and chief technical officer.
The company had announced in 2001 that cooled-EGR technology was its foundation for achieving the 2007 emissions requirements as well as the October 2002 standards. In early 2002, Cummins began operation of a Mobile Emissions Research Laboratory to evaluate technologies necessary to achieve the 2007 EPA standard in real-world applications. The evaluations tested cooled-EGR, NOx adsorbers, SCR, and other aftertreatment technologies before concluding that cooled-EGR and particulate filters were the right technologies for 2007, company officials said.
International
“Using ultra-low-sulfur fuel, each of the three engine manufacturers has found it is feasible to reduce in-cylinder emissions of NOx to a level that reduces the burden on aftertreatment in meeting the 2007 federal emissions standard,” said Patrick Charbonneau, vice-president — regulatory and technology affairs for International. “This will allow engine aftertreatment to be less complex than initially thought. While we have actively researched the need for NOx adsorbers, we have demonstrated a breakthrough with our existing engine technology platform for 2004. By being able to eliminate the need for and expense of NOx adsorbers, we will meet 2007 environmental requirements while reducing complexity.”