From: Getting Specifications Right
Engine Specs Must Change
Specification writers are reacting with varying degrees of concern to the “clean” diesel engines appearing for the first time in 2007 refuse-collection trucks. The manufacturers have redesigned their engines to meet the EPA’s new, more stringent 2007 standards, which mandate a 50% reduction in oxides of nitrogen and a 90% decrease in particulate emissions.
“We anticipate not buying any trucks in 2007 just so we can get a feel from the industry and see what the fallout is before we get any of our own dogs in this fight. If we need another truck, we’ll buy a used one from somebody,” says Stephen C. Bruggemann, shop foreman at Bavarian Trucking Co. Inc., based in Walton, KY.
“The Mack LE [a low-entry, tilt-cab model] would be the answer, but if we buy a Mack in 2007, we’re going to get a Volvo diesel engine, and we don’t have much experience with that.”
The EPA also requires changes in the fuel and fluids the new vehicles use, to reduce sulfur emissions from 500 ppm to 15 ppm.
“We need to cut costs and keep things standardized, but we can’t even standardize on basic fluids,” Bruggemann laments. “We have to stock four different coolants: green, blue, red, and orange. None are supposed to mix. Also, some of the engines require synthetic oils because of the higher temperatures.”
Jim Hartleben, president of Wittenberg Disposal Services LLC, located in Wittenberg, WI, also plans to wait. “Fuel cost is a huge part of our business, and fuel efficiency is very important,” he says. “It will probably be late 2007 before we buy any new trucks. We’re sending our mechanics to informational seminars to get a feel for what’s going to happen and how it will affect us.”
Walter B. Coley, superintendent of waste management in Norfolk, VA, is “heavily concerned” about how the new emissions standards will affect performance. “My grandfather was a car salesman. He used to say, ‘Never buy a car the first year it comes out,’” Coley remarks.
Coley also worries about the new filter that will collect particulates in a canister, whereas a catalyst will burn them off. To aid in this combustion, a mist of diesel fuel will be injected into the canister periodically.
“The vehicle has to operate at a decent speed or rpm to facilitate burning off the canister contents,” Coley says. “A collection truck’s slow stop-and-go pattern of operation may not let that happen. If the canister gets full enough, it will shut the truck down. Will a truck have to sit by the side of the road with the driver revving the engine to burn off the canister contents?”
Costs a Concern
Coley has committed to purchasing eight new trucks in 2007. “Depending on engine size,” he says, “the 2007 standards are going to add between $4,000 and $12,000 to the cost of each vehicle. I’ve been using $10,000 in my head as a nice round number—around 5%. Last year we budgeted around $175,000 for an automated truck. If everything else stays standard, 5% would be $8,750 more.”
Todd Darden, public-works director in Big Spring, TX, says bids for the 2006–2007 fiscal year are coming in $14,000 to $20,000 higher for 30-cubic-yard automatic side-loading compactor trucks with the new emission system. “We budgeted $125,000 for those trucks, and we’re seeing an 11% to 16% increase based on the emissions,” he says.
Darden notes “a big rush to buy up any trucks built prior to the 2007 emission standards.” That’s what Miami, FL, is doing.
“You can buy the old trucks if they were made in the old year,” says Mario Soldevilla, director of Miami’s solid waste department. “The trucks we’re buying in 2007 were already built and sitting on the ground, eligible to be sold.”
A Different Universe
While many specification writers fret over the new diesel emission standards, the truck-selection committee in the Los Angeles sanitation bureau is refining its requirements for vehicles fueled by LNG (liquid natural gas).
Since 1999, Los Angeles has bought trucks with dual-fuel engines that start on diesel fuel but run 80% to 85% of the time on LNG—and in diesel operation those trucks already exceeded the 2007 EPA requirements. “We saw these rules coming down the pipeline several years ago,” reports Alex E. Helou, division manager for solid resources support services. “In 1999, BP-Amoco wanted to do a study and created a special blend for us with only 5 parts per million of sulfur. We saw no impact on our trucks. Their performance was still the same, and no black soot was coming out, because they had particulate traps.”
Now Los Angeles has begun to specify trucks with engines that run only on LNG. “The dual-fuel trucks have a 50-gallon diesel tank and a 119-gallon LNG tank,” Helou says. “Starting in December 2006, the new dedicated-LNG trucks have 150-gallon tanks, based on an analysis of how long the truck has to go before being refueled.
“We have fueling stations in the city at four of our six collection yards. Design work has started on the fifth, and the sixth will be coming up. The trucks will be refueled overnight, so when the drivers arrive in the morning they are ready to go.”
The LNG supply for these trucks comes from a plant in Topock, AZ. Other potential sources are in Willis, TX, and Creek Chute, WY. “We knew this from the beginning,” Helou says. “It’s a concern, but we believe the market will drive installation of LNG plants in California, and we’re also studying the use of landfill gas.”
The specifications for the dedicated LNG trucks reflect their need to operate in diverse terrain and climatic conditions. Los Angeles sprawls across 465.9 square miles, ranging in elevation from sea level to 5,080 feet. Temperatures are relatively cool along the coast but reach 110°F in summer in the San Fernando Valley. “We found that some of the older LNG trucks couldn’t operate in certain parts of the city,” Helou says. “The new ones can go up the mountains.”
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Los Angeles replaces 80 to 100 refuse-collection vehicles a year. “We have direction from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to convert all of our fleet to clean fuel by 2010,” Helou says. “We are paying $25,000 to $40,000 more for a truck that runs on LNG than for the same truck burning diesel fuel. We’ve been very aggressive in going after grants from the California Energy Commission’s Carl Moyer Program to bridge the difference between the two.”
Some of the grants stipulate that old diesel trucks being replaced by LNG trucks must be destroyed, rather than being sold at auction, as in the past. “We haven’t done that yet,” Helou says, “but with the price of metal being so high, we might get decent money for the vehicles anyway when we scrap them.”
March-April 2007
From: Getting Specifications Right
Engine Specs Must Change
Specification writers are reacting with varying degrees of concern to the “clean” diesel engines appearing for the first time in 2007 refuse-collection trucks. The manufacturers have redesigned their engines to meet the EPA’s new, more stringent 2007 standards, which mandate a 50% reduction in oxides of nitrogen and a 90% decrease in particulate emissions.
“We anticipate not buying any trucks in 2007 just so we can get a feel from the industry and see what the fallout is before we get any of our own dogs in this fight. If we need another truck, we’ll buy a used one from somebody,” says Stephen C. Bruggemann, shop foreman at Bavarian Trucking Co. Inc., based in Walton, KY.
“The Mack LE [a low-entry, tilt-cab model] would be the answer, but if we buy a Mack in 2007, we’re going to get a Volvo diesel engine, and we don’t have much experience with that.”
The EPA also requires changes in the fuel and fluids the new vehicles use, to reduce sulfur emissions from 500 ppm to 15 ppm.
“We need to cut costs and keep things standardized, but we can’t even standardize on basic fluids,” Bruggemann laments. “We have to stock four different coolants: green, blue, red, and orange. None are supposed to mix. Also, some of the engines require synthetic oils because of the higher temperatures.”
Jim Hartleben, president of Wittenberg Disposal Services LLC, located in Wittenberg, WI, also plans to wait. “Fuel cost is a huge part of our business, and fuel efficiency is very important,” he says. “It will probably be late 2007 before we buy any new trucks. We’re sending our mechanics to informational seminars to get a feel for what’s going to happen and how it will affect us.”
Walter B. Coley, superintendent of waste management in Norfolk, VA, is “heavily concerned” about how the new emissions standards will affect performance. “My grandfather was a car salesman. He used to say, ‘Never buy a car the first year it comes out,’” Coley remarks.
Coley also worries about the new filter that will collect particulates in a canister, whereas a catalyst will burn them off. To aid in this combustion, a mist of diesel fuel will be injected into the canister periodically.
“The vehicle has to operate at a decent speed or rpm to facilitate burning off the canister contents,” Coley says. “A collection truck’s slow stop-and-go pattern of operation may not let that happen. If the canister gets full enough, it will shut the truck down. Will a truck have to sit by the side of the road with the driver revving the engine to burn off the canister contents?”
Costs a Concern
Coley has committed to purchasing eight new trucks in 2007. “Depending on engine size,” he says, “the 2007 standards are going to add between $4,000 and $12,000 to the cost of each vehicle. I’ve been using $10,000 in my head as a nice round number—around 5%. Last year we budgeted around $175,000 for an automated truck. If everything else stays standard, 5% would be $8,750 more.”
Todd Darden, public-works director in Big Spring, TX, says bids for the 2006–2007 fiscal year are coming in $14,000 to $20,000 higher for 30-cubic-yard automatic side-loading compactor trucks with the new emission system. “We budgeted $125,000 for those trucks, and we’re seeing an 11% to 16% increase based on the emissions,” he says.
Darden notes “a big rush to buy up any trucks built prior to the 2007 emission standards.” That’s what Miami, FL, is doing.
“You can buy the old trucks if they were made in the old year,” says Mario Soldevilla, director of Miami’s solid waste department. “The trucks we’re buying in 2007 were already built and sitting on the ground, eligible to be sold.”
A Different Universe
While many specification writers fret over the new diesel emission standards, the truck-selection committee in the Los Angeles sanitation bureau is refining its requirements for vehicles fueled by LNG (liquid natural gas).
Since 1999, Los Angeles has bought trucks with dual-fuel engines that start on diesel fuel but run 80% to 85% of the time on LNG—and in diesel operation those trucks already exceeded the 2007 EPA requirements. “We saw these rules coming down the pipeline several years ago,” reports Alex E. Helou, division manager for solid resources support services. “In 1999, BP-Amoco wanted to do a study and created a special blend for us with only 5 parts per million of sulfur. We saw no impact on our trucks. Their performance was still the same, and no black soot was coming out, because they had particulate traps.”
Now Los Angeles has begun to specify trucks with engines that run only on LNG. “The dual-fuel trucks have a 50-gallon diesel tank and a 119-gallon LNG tank,” Helou says. “Starting in December 2006, the new dedicated-LNG trucks have 150-gallon tanks, based on an analysis of how long the truck has to go before being refueled.
“We have fueling stations in the city at four of our six collection yards. Design work has started on the fifth, and the sixth will be coming up. The trucks will be refueled overnight, so when the drivers arrive in the morning they are ready to go.”
The LNG supply for these trucks comes from a plant in Topock, AZ. Other potential sources are in Willis, TX, and Creek Chute, WY. “We knew this from the beginning,” Helou says. “It’s a concern, but we believe the market will drive installation of LNG plants in California, and we’re also studying the use of landfill gas.”
The specifications for the dedicated LNG trucks reflect their need to operate in diverse terrain and climatic conditions. Los Angeles sprawls across 465.9 square miles, ranging in elevation from sea level to 5,080 feet. Temperatures are relatively cool along the coast but reach 110°F in summer in the San Fernando Valley. “We found that some of the older LNG trucks couldn’t operate in certain parts of the city,” Helou says. “The new ones can go up the mountains.”
Los Angeles replaces 80 to 100 refuse-collection vehicles a year. “We have direction from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to convert all of our fleet to clean fuel by 2010,” Helou says. “We are paying $25,000 to $40,000 more for a truck that runs on LNG than for the same truck burning diesel fuel. We’ve been very aggressive in going after grants from the California Energy Commission’s Carl Moyer Program to bridge the difference between the two.”
Some of the grants stipulate that old diesel trucks being replaced by LNG trucks must be destroyed, rather than being sold at auction, as in the past. “We haven’t done that yet,” Helou says, “but with the price of metal being so high, we might get decent money for the vehicles anyway when we scrap them.”