Navistar Claims Engine Breakthrough

INDIANAPOLIS — Navistar International Transportation Corp. says it can make a diesel engine that runs cleaner than one powered by compressed natural gas, and can far exceed federal environmental standards proposed for 2010.

And a test version of the engine on a school bus chassis has produced the lowered levels of emissions without a loss in performance, which has plagued earlier designs, according to Patrick E. Charbonneau, the vice president of engineering for Navistar’s engine and foundry group.

If successful, Navistar’s engine could give it a big jump on its competitors as the industry moves to a new generation of engines designed to meet stricter emissions standards. The nation’s six largest engine makers are committed to a major upgrade of their products under a settlement signed in October with the Environmental Protection Agency, which accused them of cheating on environmental tests.

Although Navistar used a medium-duty engine as the platform for this test, the technology will be applied to its larger Class 8 on-highway brethren, said Daniel C. Ustian, president of the engine and foundry group.

“The same technology will apply across the board” to all the company’s engines, he said. “All of our engine [designs] are optimized for on-highway use, so the technology we’ve developed for our medium-duty engines is applicable to our heavy-duty units.”

Navistar said the engine showed no decrease in performance powering a 31,500-pound school bus chassis, but it remains to be seen how it will act in a Class 8 tractor pulling a 50,000-pound load.

“We cut NOx emissions to 3.01 [grams per brake-horsepower-hour], well under the 4.0 standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the 3.2 level of CNG-powered bus engines,” Charbonneau said during an Aug. 31 display of the motor. “We also reduced particulates over 90%, to 0.005 [g/bhp-hr], which is below the EPA’s 2010 standard” of 0.1 and a CNG engine’s level of 0.07.

For the full story, see the Sept. 6 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.