COVER STORY
25http://www.pmvmiddleeast.com AUGUST 2019 PLANT / MACHINERY / VEHICLES
To validate the trials, ELR involved the
Automobile and Touring Club of UAE
(ATCUAE) as an independent testing authority.
Since then ATCUAE has been conducting
regular emission tests on ELR trucks running
only on diesel and those running on diesel
mixed with D-Zel Aid.
The initial trials involved 10 trucks ranging
from 4.9 to 10 tonnes. This was later reduced
to four 4.9 tonne trucks, all Mitsubishi Fuso
Canter models with identical specifi cations,
so that all parameters could be monitored
thoroughly and compared it with the historical
data of the trucks, particularly their fuel
consumption during the last seven years.
Jason O’Keefe, distribution and warehouse
manager, ELR, says: “Reducing the sample size
enabled us to achieve consistency in the testing
process; as a result, we saw the fuel economy
double compared to the initial results.
The average fuel economy for the initial
sample size of 10 trucks was 8–9%; this
increased to 15–20% when we reduced the
sample size to four trucks. We incentivised the
four drivers to maintain consistency in dozing
the fuel tanks by using syringes to measure the
volume of additives.”
“Although this initiative was not prioritised
on fuel economy, that’s exactly what we’ve
achieved while also reducing emissions. These
fi ndings are crucial for us because it will
generate more savings with increase in the
price of diesel in the UAE,” adds Jason.
Table 1 shows the results of the idle and
stall tests (60% load) for the four trucks tested
in April 2019 by ATCUAE. Trucks 1 and 2 were
running on diesel alone and Trucks 3 and 4
were running on a mixture of diesel and D-Zel
Aid. The NOx emissions are expressed in
parts per million (ppm).
In the idle test, the NOx values of Trucks 1
and 2 at 652 rpm and 654 rpm were 142 ppm
and 170 ppm, respectively; those of Trucks 3
and 4 at 641 rpm and 844 rpm were 24 ppm
and 57 ppm, respectively.
In the stall test, the NOx values of Trucks 1
and 2 at 3094 rpm and 2930 rpm were 407 ppm
and 443 ppm, respectively; those of Trucks 3
and 4 at 2938 rpm and 2906 rpm were 223 ppm
and 327 ppm, respectively. The increase in O2
emissions for Trucks 3 and 4 in both the idle
and stall tests indicates that a lower amount
of oxygen and nitrogen was burnt and thus
less NOx was produced.
The signifi cant NOx reduction in the idle
tests is crucial for ELR because all its trucks
idle for several hours during deliveries to keep
the air conditioning and refrigeration systems
running.
“All our trucks are reefer vehicles and werarely turn the engines off during deliveries.
During the 10 hours and more of operation of
each of our trucks, the engine is switched on
for 80–85% of the time. The results under load
are fantastic, but those under the idle state are
even better for us because of the day-to-day
realities of our operations,” says Jason.
One of the challenges ELR aims to
overcome with the diesel additive is its dozing
consistency, which could be achieved if it is
premixed with diesel by fuel suppliers.
“Dozing the fuel tank manually comes with
the risk of human error, which will not give
the same fuel economy across the entire fl eet.
The ideal solution is to have the diesel and
additive premixed and delivered to our yard in
fuel tankers,” says Jason.
This year, ELR will be replacing its current
fl eet of heavy-duty trucks with new Mercedes-
Benz Actros Euro V models that will run on
AdBlue. ELR is also conducting trials with
biodiesel blends such as B5.
“We’re trying to fi nd the ideal combination
of diesel, additives, pre-treatment and after-
treatment that works best for our fl eet and
contributes to our sustainability strategy.
Currently, AdBlue is relatively expensive in
this region; so, we’re keen to fi nd whether or
not the diesel additive can help reduce the
volume of AdBlue required per truck,” he says.ATCUAE conducts emission tests on ELR trucks recording the results of trucks running only on diesel as well as trucks running on diesel mixed with D-Zel Aid.