Expected in 2019, the impending European Stage V emissions regulations for off-highway engines will remain top of the agenda for FPT. EU regulators will limit both particle number, or PN, as well as tighten the existing particle mass limits. Stage V also reduces NOx, HC, and CO limits.

While these are stringent, it is also true that the EU market governed by Stage V is only a small part of the global market, according to Federico Gaiazzi, Vice President of Marketing & Product Management for FPT Industrial. Sharing his views with SAE Off-Highway Engineering, Gaiazzi noted that these EU regulations may well affect how regulators approach their own national needs in other parts of the world. Gaiazzi believes it is likely that emissions regulations and fuel quality restrictions imposed in other countries will tighten in response to the EU actions.

This means FPT will need to upgrade global engines to use similar advanced technologies needed for the EU market. “While working toward the anticipated emissions standards, FPT is looking at solutions that will continue to increase engine efficiency and reduce total cost of ownership, which is why we will not be deviating from our long-term high-efficiency selective catalytic reduction [HI-eSCR] only strategy,” he said. This technology, according to Gaiazzi, frees FPT’s engines from using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in medium- and heavy-duty applications, simplifying the engines and reducing costs.

He predicts that the next generation of FPT’s HI-eSCR aftertreatment solution will incorporate a diesel particulate filter (DPF) integrated on the SCR. Part of the SCR catalyst will be replaced by the DPF in this solution to avoid impacting the aftertreatment layout. This is a technology that is reportedly efficient in meeting both particle mass and PN emissions. In general, these combined SCR and DPFs reduce packaging and makes it easier to manage the temperature needed for the SCR (See The Complicated Future of Off-Highway Engines, SOHE, August 2015).

“The HI-eSCR system was originally developed at FPT’s R&D Center in Arbon, Switzerland, and was the first maintenance-free aftertreatment system, achieving NOx reductions of more than 95%,” he said. Observations from others in the industry note that newer SCR technologies could achieve 97–98% efficiencies in reducing NOx, a key enabler in eliminating EGR.

When asked what were the most important advanced technologies for achieving better fuel efficiency and total cost of operation, his answer reflected a broad perspective.

“No one technological area will create a breakthrough in improving fuel consumption or performance in engine development,” he said. The key is increasing an engine’s brake thermal efficiency. “It is a challenge with no quick-fix technological breakthroughs on the horizon; instead, progress will be the sum of improvements to several aspects of the engine.”

These include the optimization of combustion and air handling, reduction of power losses, the introduction of smart auxiliaries, and waste heat recovery in the exhaust line, as well as energy management controls in the engine, its related systems, and all elements of the vehicle that influence its fluid usage.