Detroit Diesel Corp. (DDC) has chosen to use exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology and diesel particulate filters on its heavy engines to meet the EPA’s 2007 emission requirements. EGR will be used on the DDC Series 60 and the Mercedes-Benz engines marketed by the company.
“DDC was in a position to choose from a wide range of technologies, including selective catalytic reduction (SCR),” said Carsten Reinhardt, DDC president and CEO. “While we believe SCR is a viable alternative for 2010, we ultimately selected EGR for 2007 because of the system’s greater familiarity with our customers and its ease of deployment.”
Reinhardt said 2007 EGR engines are already in development and DDC intends to operate vehicles with the new engines by the end of 2004. By 2007 DDC estimates there will be approximately 300,000 DDC and Mercedes-Benz engines using EGR technology operating in North America.
EGR works by circulating cooled exhaust gas back into the engine air intake. This lowers combustion temperature and reduces formation of NOx. DDC will use diesel particulate filters to meet the new particulate matter (PM) standard.
The 2007 EPA requirements call for over a 50% reduction in NOx emissions and a 90% reduction in PM.