Posted on Thu, Aug 16, 2012 @ 10:30 AM
Alright guys, wrapping up this short series on Marine Diesel Exhaust Fluid (Urea) with this latest entry. The first entry was simply an overview of this sector, hit the jump next and you can read it there. Link.
The second Marine DEF entry (Part II), we got into the different engine categories and their respective manufacturers, hit the jump next. Link.
Now, this leads us to the last entry (Part III) of this Diesel Exhaust Fluid Marine edition.
Here, we are going to be highliting the different tiers and their releases. So, let's jump right into it:
During the last 10 yers, the EPA has introduced several mandated marine emissions standards. Let's recap that quickly to get a general time line of when this got started and where we heading with it.
Tier 1- This marine tier targeted the following categories, starting in 1999 and expiring in 2006.
a) Small marine diesel engines (< 37 Kw), published October 23, 1998, 63 FR 56968. Taking effect in 1999 or 2000, depending on engine size.
b) Comercial engines- Engines at or Above 30 Liters per Cylinder (published February 28, 2003, 68 FR 9746). This was voluntary through 2003; mandatory for engines m2.5 l/cyl beginning in 2004.
c) Category 3 marine diesel engines- Control of Emissions from New Marine Compression- Ignition Engines at or Above 30 Liters per Cylinder (published February 28, 2003, 68 FR 9746). Voluntary through 2003; mandatory 2004.
d) Recreational marine engines- Engines at or Above 30 Liters per Cylinder (published February 28, 2003, 68 FR 9746). Voluntary through 2003; mandatory for engines m2.5 l/cyl beginning in 2004.
Tier 2- This marine tier targeted the following categories, starting in 2007 and expiring in 2011-2012.
a) Small marine diesel engines (< 37 Kw), published October 23, 1998, 63 FR 56968. Taking effect in 2004 or 2005, depending on engine size.
b) Comercial engines- Engines at or Above 37 kW (published December 29, 1999, 64 FR 73300) taking effect in 2004 to 2007, depending on engine size.
c) Recreational marine engines- Nonroad Large Spark-Ignition Engines, and Recreational Engines (Marine and Land-Based) (published November 8, 2002, 67 FR 68242). Taking effect in 2006 to 2009, depending on engine size.
So, now that we covered the first two tiers, with latter expiring in 2011. Where are we today?
Tier 3 and Tier 4 implementation-
Locomotives: This will apply to all diesel line- haul, passenger, and switch locomotives that operate extensively within the United States including newly manufactured locomotives and remanufactured locomotives that were originally manufactured after 1972.
Marine Diesel Engines: This tier will apply to new manufactured marine diesel engines and remanufactured commercial marine diesel engines above 600 kilowatt (kW) or 800 horsepower (hp) with displacement less than 30 liters per cylinder installed on vessels flagged or registered in the United States. Category 1 with engines up to 7 liters per cylinder displacement. Category 2 includes engines from 7 to 30 liters per cylinder. Finally, Category 3 engines are those at or above 30 liters per cylinder.
Tier 3 and 4 standards will be played out as follows:
1) These standards for existing locomotives and marine diesel engines are more stringent when they are remanufactured.
2) Second, the rule sets near-term emission standards, referred to as Tier 3 standards, for newly- built locomotive and diesel marine engines. Furthermore, the new rule will create new idle reduction requirements for new and remanufactured locomotives and establishes a new generation of clean switch locomotives, based on clean nonroad diesel engine standards.
3) The final long-term emissions standards, or Tier 4, will apply to newly-built locomotives and marine diesel engines beginning in 2014 for marine diesel engines and 2015 for locomotives.
About 144 million people in the US live in areas that violate air quality standards for ground-level ozone, as of October 2007, and about 88 million people live in areas that violate air quality standards from PM. The locomotive and marine diesel emissions reductions will particularly benefit those who live, work, or recreate in and along our nation’s coastal areas, rivers, ports, and rail lines.
These are the different tier standards consolidated in this latest entry. The core principle behind the evolution is to provide better efficiencies but also to provide better air qualitiy for the people working within those sectors. Folks, we are cleaning up our air and we need to continue to push forward with this in mind. Thank you for following us on this three part series.
References:
www.epa.gov
http://www.petersonpower.com
http://www.greencarcongress.com
https://marine.cummins.com/marine/public/homePage.action
If you have any questions, feel free to call us at 281-377-5845 or email us on our contact us page. If you want to apply to be a distributor of Diesel Exhaust Fluid in the Houston Texas region, you can reach us direct by applying for distributorship on our DEF page.
Thank you for reading our Blog.
Transliquid Technologies - not only thinking different, but doing business different. Call us today at 281-377-5845
Posted on Wed, Jul 18, 2012 @ 09:01 PM
Hi folks, welcome back to this second part of our Marine (DEF) diesel exhaust fluid series where we will expand a bit on where we left off from the first entry or part I. I promise not to get too technical and we will keep this on the light side as much as possible for a good fast read.
To recap, the introduction blog was simply an overview of the next segment coming up for our diesel exhaust fluid industry. We have said this over and over here, the intend for our blog is to bring awareness and knowledge to our young industry. What is knowledge if you cannot share it?
Before we jump in, I'd like to say thank you, to all our subscribers and the folks that comment on this blog with valuable information. This is a community that is only as good as its active readers, bringing information to this public place. We encurage you to continue to be active here and also in our Houston Diesel Exhaust Fluid Linked-In group or any other similar groups hosting great topics and resources.
Ok, back on topic now. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) emission control program for marine engines consists of several sets of standards which vary based on the type of engine and size. These EPA standards apply to newly manufactured products produced after the effective date of the standards. **NOTE: (We will get into the different marine tier standards and dates on the next blog entry).**
The EPA has created three separate categories to define the three distinctive types of marine diesel engines.
Category 1 - This includes engines greater than 37 kW but with a per-cylinder displacement of 5 liters/cylinder or less. These engines are similar to land-based nonroad diesel engines that are used in applications ranging from skid-steer loaders to large earth moving machines.
Category 2- This includes engines with a specific displacement at or above 5 liters to 30 liters per cylinder. Many of these engines have counterpart locomotive models. Tugboats and towboats are the principal use of Category 2 marine engines. Similarly, the big fishing vessels, ferries, and many workboats use these larger engines.
*Side Note:* Category 1 and Category 2 marine diesel engines are often derived from or use the same technologies as their land- based counterparts. Consequently, the EPA believes that most of the technology being developed to enable the land-based counterparts to achieve recently finalized emission control programs can be applied to these marine diesel engines
Category 3- This includes large engines, at or above 30 liters per cylinder. These are larger than any mobile source engines addressed by EPA. They are similar in size to land-based power plant generators, and are used primarily for propulsion in ocean-going vessels. Because they are currently designed for maximum fuel efficiency and performance without consideration of the impacts on NOx emissions, these engines can have very high NOx emissions. The way we see it, these are the biggest offenders currently polutting our air. Something to really think about. This includes container ships, tankers, bulk carriers, cruise ships, and Lakers.
Following, is a list of companies that manufacture complete diesel engines for the Marine sector. Notice that I said complete, because there are also companies that make partial or base engines, but for the sake of this blog entry; we will only focus on those that manufacture complete engines.
Category 1- Caterpillar, Cummins, Deere, and Detroit Diesel. (Domestic)
Category 1- Isuzu, Yanmar (Foreign).
Category 2- General Motors Electromotive Division, Caterpllar, Fairbanks Morse. (Domestic)
Category 2- Wartsila, MaK, MTU, Deutz, and Yanmar (Foreign).
{FACTOID}: Category 2 engines prices approach or exceeding $1 million for a new engine.
Category 3- There are currently no U.S. manufacturers of Category 3 marine engines for commercial purpose. (Domestic)
Category 3-The following is an EPA list of manuacturers that produce under their own design. of course, there are others that produce under license. They are: Akasaka, Allen Diesel, Daihatsu, Deutz-MWM, Fincantier Group/GMT Hanshin, MAN-B&W, MaK, Matsui Iron Works, Mitsubishi Heavy Ind. LTD, SEMT-Pielstick, Wartsila-NSD.
Ok next week, we will jump on the Tier standards (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4). How are you liking the series so far, anything you'd like to add? Let us know!
Hope you guys are having a great week!! Write to us at info@transliquidtechnologies.com or call us at 281-377-5845 with any questions or comments. We always enjoy hearing from you.
Dont forget to check out our DEF equipment page that keeps evolving.
Thank you for reading our Blog.
Transliquid Technologies - not only thinking different, but doing business different. Call us today at 281-377-5845
Posted on Wed, Jul 11, 2012 @ 03:59 PM
The marine sector has been a hot topic during the last month inside forums and oher online groups. As our Diesel Exhaust Fluid Industry cotinues to roll out the EPA's Emission Standards for all platforms, more and more questions continue to surface. In typical TLT fashion, we are placing the spotlight today on Urea and the marine sector. The intent of this next blog article is to provide a general view of what is currently happening inside the marine sector, and the upcoming Urea (diesel exhaust fluid) and its SCR systems approach at cleaning up this old platform.
As more and more ships travel every week across our globe, the pollution caused by them continues to be on the rise, making them a major global concern The two main pollutants (suspects) from the ship’s dirty engines are Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Sulphur oxides (SOx). These gases have adverse effects on the ozone layer in the troposphere area of the earth’s atmosphere which results in the green house effect and global warming. Both NOx and SOx are combustion products that are emitted in to the environment in the form of smoke.
The big concerns lies in the fact that these ships are major offenders in today's NOx emmison control. You could argue that static applications in power plants/industrial facilities would take the lead in the list of our world’s most severe air polluters, but that is not the case. To save on fuel costs, ocean ships still use some of the lowest grade fuel, which has a high sulfur content and does not burn as clean as on road diesel among other applications. I bet you did not know that.
This is where Urea (diesel exhaust fluid) will play as the key ingredient to reducing nitrogen oxides or NOx emissions from these dirty diesel engines.
Marine is heating up and it is coming up fast. There are several conversations happening within the industry on this topic, similarly to the off road sector. If you recall, early on we set forth the following phases starting with Heavy Duty Highway Engines (on road), followed by off-road diesel engines, and last locomotive and marine applications. Let’s take a look at what is happening in the marine word today.
These large marine diesel engines produce a tremendous amount of NOx. To back this up, if you take a look at the fact that 15 of the world’s largest ships emit as much contaminates as all of the world’s 700 million cars, you would agree that something needed to be done. Furthermore, more and more information keeps emerging about the dangers of dirty diesel fumes and its impact on our lungs and other biological mutations. Our industry is taken part in helping this cause, we are all part of this new clean air movement.
So, far we know that marine will take a higher concentration of urea at 40% instead of the standard 32.5%. Questions are being asked about whether all marine applications will run on this higher 40% concentration dosage. Stay tuned to more details and start conversations with your customers now. Let us know on your findings here so that we can display the information on this platform.
FACTOID: Ocean shipping is responsible for 18-30% of all the world’s nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution and 9% of the global sulfur oxide (SOx) pollution.
Having a cause and motive, is enough to ignate a revolution. Let's not loose focus on the main principle behind our industry. Next week, we will expand more on this topic:
1. What are the compression-ignition (diesel) marine engine standards?
2. Categories of marine diesel engines.
Credit to the www.themaritimeblog.com
Questions on Diesel Exhaust Fluid or its related equipment, visit our main DEF page or our contact us page. We'll be happy to discuss your questions.
Thank you for reading our Blog.
Transliquid Technologies - not only thinking different, but doing business different. Call us today at 281-377-5845