Caterpillar decided last year to jettison its EGR research in favor of its own Advanced Combustion Emissions Reduction Technology. It won’t be ready until January, says Steve Schoening, sales development manager. So Cat has chosen to market a bridge engine that will have some features of ACERT but will not be fully compliant with new emissions guidelines.
For that reason, Cat is expected to have to pay penalties on every engine sold. Nevertheless, Schoening says, those engines will be “competitively priced.” Schoening says the C-15 will use about 3-5 percent more fuel in its bridge phase but will achieve current levels of efficiency when ACERT is fully in place. Cat also believes ACERT will allow the company to most efficiently meet short-term and long-term emissions goals. “We don’t want to re-engineer a 2002-compliant engine,” he says.
Cat plans to use a new generation of electronic control software, as well as diesel oxidation catalysts in the muffler, on its interim engine. It will build on these technologies until ACERT is ready.
“Cat’s pilot injection system flows fuel early in the combustion cycle, creating a flame front, then adds more fuel later in the cycle to keep heat down and produce a clean, efficient burn,” Schoening says. Cat will also use “air flow management technology achieved through use of an electronically controlled turbocharger wastegate,” he adds.
