Cummins Westport near-zero NOx rating viewed as game-changer

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Fleet Owner / October 8, 2015

The certification of Cummins Westport ISL G 8.9-liter to 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr) for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) earlier this week is expected to be a “game changer” for natural gas in the truck market – especially as that same “near-zero NOx” technology gets added to the company’s ISB 6.7-liter and ISX 12G 11.9-liter units.

“This is huge; this is equivalent to [the emission levels] of a completely electric tractor-trailer – even if one existed that could haul 80,000 lbs. up and down the highway,” explained Erik Neandross, CEO for consulting firm Gladstein, Neandross and Associates (GNA), during the CNG Industry Leaders Forum put together by Gain Clean Fuel and hosted by Anheuser Busch at its Biergarten facility attached to its St. Louis, MO, brewery operation this week.

“This is really unbelievable stuff from an environmental performance perspective,” he said.

Neandross stressed as well that the number one source of ozone-forming NOx comes from heavy trucks and off-road engines; a statistics that becomes all the more important in light of the EPA’s new rulemaking effort aimed at reducing ground-ozone levels.

Hugh Donnell, North American OEM truck business and market segment leader for Cummins Westport, noted at the meeting that municipal fleets located in “non-attainment” areas for high-ozone levels could use the firm’s new “near-zero NOx” engines for faster compliance with the new rules – including the Phase II greenhouse gas (GHG) rules set for implementation in 2017.

“This is a big deal – we’re talking about natural gas engines that offer a 90% reduction in NOx pollution. That’s a game changer,” he explained.

He added that all of Cummins Westport’s natural gas engines meet the EPA‘s 2010 standard for particulate matter, which is 0.01 g/bhp-hr.

Donnell also noted that the company’s “near zero” natural gas 8.9-literengine – designated the ISL G NZ – also meets CARB’s 2023 California Near Zero NOx schedule eight years early.

He also said that three components proved key to driving the ISL G NZ’s NOX levels down to near-zero levels: new combustion calibrations; new crankcase venting techniques adapted from Euro VI compliance technologies being used in Europe; and the three way catalyst system used on Cummins Westport’s ISX 12G unit.

“It only change [customers will see in the ISL G NZ compared to the ISL G] is an increase in the size of the catalysts of about an inch,” Donnell noted. “That’s it; there is no trade off in fuel economy and no cost to performance. That’s a pretty good recipe; don’t give up anything and get a lot more in return.”

He added that the same “near-zero” technology will be added to the company’s ISB 6.7-liter and ISX 12 G products over the next two years.

“The near-zero 6.7-liter will go into production in the fourth quarter of 2016 and will be commercially available in the first quarter of 2017,” he said. “We’ll start on the [near-zero] ISX 12 G in mid-2017 and make it commercially available in early 2018.”

The main hurdle for Cummins Westport to getting this “near-zero” package to market across its natural gas engine lineup is compliance with onboard diagnostic (OBD) rules, Donnell emphasized.

“Getting them OBD certified requires quite a bit of work; that and getting technicians certified to work on them and making sure parts are available when the engines hit the market,” he explained. “It’s like building a new road versus rebuilding an older one; a takes a little longer than expected.”

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Fleet Now Operating Zero-Emissions Natural Gas Engine

Heavy Duty Trucking  /  March 23, 2017

Total Transportation Services, Inc. (TTSI), a drayage trucking company in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., has begun using one of the first Cummins Westport (CWI) ISX12 G low-NOx natural gas engines for its trucking operations.

Available for order later this year, the 12.0L engine’s emissions will be certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to produce 90% less NOx than the current EPA standard for heavy-duty engines, and are equivalent to that of a truck powered by electricity from the electrical grid.

“The trucking industry is facing hard choices on how we are going to reduce our emissions impact, especially here in Southern California,” said Victor La Rosa, CEO and President of TTSI. “We believe the quickest and most affordable way to cut our NOx emissions to essentially zero is with the new CWI engine and renewable natural gas (RNG). We’ve successfully operated natural gas trucks in the San Pedro, Calif., ports since the last Clean Trucks program in 2008, and it’s great that we now have a dramatically improved engine and an even cleaner fuel with renewable natural gas.”

In 2016, Cummins Westport began full production of the 8.9L ISL G low-NOx engine and has shipped engines to bus and refuse truck OEMs. The ISX12 G low-NOx engine is based on the 12.0L ISX12 G first introduced in 2012 and will start production early next year. CWI anticipates a large demand for this heavy-duty alternative-fuel truck engine.

South Coast Air Quality Management District and the California Energy Commission supported Cummins Westport by providing development funding, recognizing the importance of this technology in helping California reduce emissions from heavy-duty trucks. About one-third of California residents live in communities with pollution that exceeds federal standards, according to estimates by CARB.