Developing and manufacturing the most advanced clean diesel technology to meet 2014 EPA standards for construction, industrial and farm equipment was a complex and challenging process, according to several leading manufacturers exhibiting at the CONEXPO CON/AGG 2014 convention. Achieving Tier 4 Final standards was especially challenging because of the wide array of engines and equipment covered under the regulations.
“We have probably 300 different machine models we have to deal with,” said Doug Mihelick, the technical sales manager for the Engine Division at Caterpillar. “But when we talk about delivering industrial engines to the industrial engine market there could be another 500 or 600 different applications in the industrial engine business that we need to satisfy, work with, help the OEM install those engines in their products, and so this has reached out to many, many different industries in North America.”
The end result has been advanced diesel engines and equipment in several hundred different off-road machines that have near-zero emissions under EPA’s Tier 4 Final standards which became mandatory this year. In addition, the diesel manufacturers were able to achieve the lower emission standards while also improving engine efficiency.
“Tier 4 to us not just an emissions standard but rather a motivation to improve the technology, improve the value of our engines that they bring to customers, not just emissions but also fuel economy, features of the engine, performance of the engine to really improve upon our portfolio,” said Scott Woodruff, the director of industrial sales for MTU America Inc.
The Diesel Technology Forum has produced a video which includes interviews with leading industry manufacturers who discuss some of the challenges industry overcame to reach the Tier 4 Final standards. You can view the video here.
