Protect the Heart of Your Investment

Protecting your investment is a top priority any day, but it’s especially important in today’s economy. Extending the life of your diesel engines should be managed no differently. Engine oil type, diesel fuel and coolant quality have always been important, but the technologies needed to meet Interim and Final Tier 4 emissions regulations make them even more so.

Oil

“Keep in mind, not all products on the market are optimized with off-highway conditions in mind,” explains Dr. Ken Chao, a senior engineer at John Deere Power Systems (JDPS) in Waterloo, Iowa. “There’s a big difference between on- and off-highway oils. Off-highway applications are subjected to higher loads, higher crankcase oil temperatures and higher levels of sulfur, dust and moisture contaminants — all of which can lead to excessive wear on the engine.”

With the introduction of exhaust filters in many Interim Tier 4 engines, the type of engine oil used can have a significant impact on the proper functioning and service life of these devices. It is likely that many off-highway manufacturers will recommend using CJ-4 oil with Interim Tier 4 engines. It is important, however, to always follow the manufacturer’s oil-type and service-interval recommendations.

Companies that manufacture off-highway engine oils have been able to attain the lower sulfur, ash and phosphorus levels required under CJ-4 specifications by using new additives that provide improved thermal protection. Compared to CI-4 oils, CJ-4 has been shown to be much more stable and to have better soot-handling capabilities.

“Heat affects off-highway engines much more than on-highway,” Chao says. “Off-highway engines work much harder in heavily loaded conditions. Plus, they don’t get the cooling effect from highway travel. Every time you raise the temperature 10 degrees Celsius [about 20 degrees Fahrenheit], you double the oxidation rate of the oil.”

Lab and field tests reveal that the superior anti-wear additives in quality engine oils can significantly reduce engine wear, increasing the productive life of the engine. They also extend drain intervals and reduce piston deposits, which leads to a cleaner engine that will last longer and provide consistent power. John Deere Plus-50 oil, for example, provides a 50 percent increase in the drain interval on John Deere engines over the engine operator manual recommendations.

Fuel

As more sophisticated emissions-control technologies are added to diesel engines — and with the increasingly stringent EPA emissions regulations — fuel quality is more important than ever.

Prior to October 2007, sulfur content levels of typical off-highway diesel fuel could be 1,000 to 3,000 parts per million (ppm). Sulfur content in off-highway fuel was reduced to 500 ppm (low sulfur diesel) in 2007 and was further reduced to 15 ppm (ultra-low sulfur diesel, or ULSD) in 2010. ULSD will enable the use of exhaust filters on new engines and reduce emissions from the existing diesel engines.

The increased interest in and use of biofuels also demands strict adherence to applicable fuel quality standards. Most off-highway diesel engine manufacturers allow equipment operators to use biodiesel in varying concentrations, providing that users follow strict quality standards.

For example, JDPS prefers that operators use 5 percent blends (B5), but the company allows the use of biodiesel concentrations up to a 100 percent blend (B100) in all John Deere engines, including all non-emissions-certified engines. However, there are several caveats. The biodiesel (B100 portion) must meet ASTM D6751 or EN14214 specification. Any blend B20 or higher is required to use a John Deere-approved fuel conditioner containing a detergent/dispersant. John Deere also encourages biodiesel users to purchase biodiesel blends from a BQ-9000 Certified Marketer and to source from a BQ-9000 Accredited Producer, as certified by the National Biodiesel Board. Certified Marketers and Accredited Producers can be found at www.bq-9000.org.

Coolant

Heavy-duty cooling systems require special care and year-round protection. Not all antifreeze/coolants on the market provide the necessary protection a cooling system needs to operate efficiently under extreme pressures and temperatures. So it’s important to be selective. John Deere Cool-Gard II, for example, is a fully formulated antifreeze/summer coolant, designed and extensively tested to protect wet-sleeve-liner diesel engines from cylinder-liner cavitation erosion. This is especially critical for heavy-duty, off-highway applications that often endure punishing conditions and temperature extremes.

When Calvin Conley of Diesel Energy Systems of Fredericksburg, Ohio, services an engine, he becomes a firsthand witness to the benefits that quality oil and coolant offer his customers.

“We routinely get 30,000 hours out of an engine,” Conley says about his service center. “The key to that longevity is servicing the engine at the right intervals and using an oil and coolant designed for the engine and application. We use oil-sampling kits to determine when to service the engine. The result is fewer oil changes, less downtime required to service the engine and less oil and filters to store and dispose of. We’re saving roughly 11 gal of oil per machine each year. When you total all of the engines that we service, that’s a significant savings for everyone involved.”

Nathan Huss is a technical writer for Two Rivers Marketing, based in Des Moines, Iowa.

EGR vs. the People

John Deere Presents the Pros of Exhaust Gas Recirculation Technology for Tier 4

There is an ongoing debate about what solution is best to make new diesel engines comply with the U.S. EPA’s Interim Tier 4 (IT4) emissions regulations for 2011: Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) or Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). Both have their merits, and customers need to determine which technology bests meets their needs.

Cooled EGR is not new. But for IT4, EGR engines will have exhaust filters, consisting of a diesel oxidation catalyst/diesel particulate filter, added in place of a muffler. It will use one fluid — diesel fuel, making it a simple, operator-friendly solution. John Deere believes this IT4 solution is the right technology, right now, and has chosen this technology path to meet IT4 requirements. Many other construction equipment manufacturers have chosen EGR as well.

The diesel particulate filter does require periodic cleaning, known as regeneration, to burn up accumulated soot. During most operating conditions, regeneration occurs automatically and does not impact machine operation. In contrast, SCR is much different, requiring the use of a second fluid, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), in the machine.

SCR does allow a manufacturer to use lower base-engine technology; however, it requires other unique parts and components for the system. These include an SCR catalyst, SCR decomposition tube, a DEF-fluid storage tank, anti-tampering devices, a DEF-tank-level indicator, DEF tank filter and DEF tank heater (as DEF can freeze in cold weather), as well as heated lines between the tank, a control unit and dosage regulator.

A number of on-highway truck diesel engine makers have embraced this technology, with the promise of DEF being available at truck stops just like diesel fuel. But what if your off-highway equipment is scattered across jobsites and it’s inconvenient or impossible to take it over-the-road?

We’ll ask these questions next month. Look for our story on the pros of SCR technology — why companies, particularly in the on-highway commercial truck market, are turning to Selective Catalytic Reduction to meet EPA emission regulations.