AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

I t's widely acknowledged among vehicle manufacturers that if a truck

16th November 2006
Page 61
Page 62
Page 63
Page 61, 16th November 2006 — I t's widely acknowledged among vehicle manufacturers that if a truck
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

can handle Australian conditions it will last anywhere. That's why for decades Volvo. among others, have pitted new vehicles and drivelines against the unique speed, weight, heat and utilisation challenges found Down Under.

Despite wrapping a tight cloak of secrecy around its vehicle trials sooner or later word of what a manufacturer's up to is bound to leak out. Consequently Commercial Moiorwas able to reveal that trials of a new 'big banger' engine were happening in Oz long before the eventual launch of Volvo's 660hp D16 diesel which powers the FH16; currently the world's most powerful truck.

But the story doesn't stop there.Just after Christmas last year we heard whispers of a highy-specced Volvo FH16 running in a Northern Territory roadtrain fleet which is dominated by bonneted Yanks. It wasn't until someone mentioned".. .a strange little fuel tank" that our suspicion started to sizzle.That little tank had to he carrying AdBlue„ meaning Volvo was busy testing SCR in the outback.

While Europe embraces Etiro-4 (or ignores it, depending which country you're talking about), Australia is facing its own emissions target,ADR 80/01, which comes into force on 1 January 2008.And it's no secret that Volvo's preferred method of meeting the new Aussie standard, is selective catalytic reduction (SCR)— the system favoured by most European truck makers barring MAN and Scania who have nailed their colours firmly to the mast of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).

With power peaks of 580 and 660hp, backed up by a thumping 2,800 and 3,100Nm of torque respectively, few would dispute that Volvo's FH16 is tailor-made for Australian roadtrain work. It's made all the more attractive by the standard fitment of Volvo's I-Shift automated 12-speed box. suitably beefed up to cope with such potent outputs. Perhaps more significant is the fact that the D16E is only available in SCR form,so rumours of SCR FHI 65 being triallecl in the Territory took on a new dimension.

While local Volvo folk have been reluctant to talk about the operational realities of SCR in the Australian market the veneer of secrecy has started to peel.And with ADR 80/01 creeping ever closer, they are well aware that most of Volvo's major rivals in the high-power stakes— not least Caterpillar and Cummins — have been busily extolling the virtues of their respective emissions systems. ACERT and EGR. No wonder Volvo has started to put the case for SCR in Australia.

But why SCR? In the simplest terms, it means that the kind of power delivered by the mighty D16E lump can be delivered without putting extra demands on cooling systems, or adversely affecting oil-change intervals, fuel consumption and possibly even engine life.

And this, say proponents of SCR, is where it has distinct benefits over the systems favoured by the North American engine manufactur In any case VolvoTruck Australia has be hedging its bets by testing both SCR and Et versions of its new D13 13-litre engine to ensure that it will be able to meet demand il market forces show a preference for EGR i the 400500hp category where cooling constraints aren't as severe as they are with most powerful engines.

What's more, in the US Volvo offers a 6251 EGR version of the 16-litre engine in a bonneted model called the VT880 (CM .S October). But Volvo doesn't offer the bonnc VT inAustralia,and with no conventional model to provide space for the hefty cooling package required by the EGR D16 engine, the most powerful versions of the FH16 cab-over are by necessity reliant on SCR.

The brickbats aimed at SCR are exactly the same Down Under as they are in Europe: the need to top up the tank; the price and availability of the urea additive: and how to stop a driver running a truck without urea in the tank. But when you're talking about the highest horsepower applications, where there are clearlyrecognised cooling issues with EGR engines. SCR starts to look increasingly attractive.

Until recently Volvo's response to those brickbats has been at best low key. However, it looks like the Australian tests are vindicating Volvo's faith in SCR. In particular, word has it that the amount of liquid urea required for long-distance operation, even in hard working roadtrains is surprisingly low.

For instance, Volvo reports that with urea injected into the exhaust stream at a rate of 4% of fuel consumption.a 130-litre urea tank can deliver a range of up to 6,000km between top-ups in a B-double (twin trailer running at up to 60 tonnes). Even in heavier roadtrains. a ISO-litre urea tank is capable of about 4,000km between refills.

Nonetheless, operators are bound to wonder what happens if the urea tank runs dry. Volvo points to the development of a sophisticated on-board diagnostics system to control the rate of urea injection.With the aid of an advanced NOx sensor in the exhaust system, this can substantially reduce power output in the absence of urea, virtually forcing the driver to top-up the tank.When tackled on current tests of the 660hp SCR engine,one Volvo source told us:"The diagnostics system is the critical link. It needs to be exactly right." Volvo isn't saying how many SCR FH16s are being trialled, but we believe there are at least four or five in various parts of the country with 580 and 660hp engines working in a number of different applications. Chances are they're all hauling roadtrains, because only these ultra-heavyweights serve as a meaningful test of such powerful engines.

However, one we can be sure of is the 660hp unit working out of Darwin for BP fuel distributor Bulk trans.

Off to towns like Alice Bulktrans runs a fleet of 32 heavy-duty roadtrain prime movers based at depots in Darwin,Aiice Springs, Kununurra (Western Australia), and Cloncurry and Townsville in Queensland. Operations manager Brian Murphy is understandably cautious when asked about specific results of the Volvo trial — in Europe operators engaged in similar trials often have to sign non-disclosure contracts!

He does confirm that the truck is on a twoyear trial with the company. But mileage was restricted in the months following its arrival because of a fierce and prolonged 'Top End' wet season which brought a series of cyclones. With this extreme weather out of the way the FH16 has now done some 100,000km. In a fleet dominated by bonneted Kenworths and Macks, initial driver reaction to the Volvo cabover tended towards the sceptical. Some of the Aussies have been won over by the FH16's potent performance and the ease of driving that is enhanced by its slick I-Shift transmission — but others remain firmly resistant to steering anything without a big beak.

"We've got some good drivers here but they know what they like and don't like," says Murphy."But the blokes who've driven it certainly aren't whingeing about performance. It's early days but they tell me it pulls hard — real hard."

His comment was reinforced by a Bulktrans driver we spoke to on the side of the Stuart Highway near Darwin. He describes the pulling power of the 660hp Volvo as "awesome", adding:"Going up Hayes Creek, it's unbelievably strong."To the uninitiated, the Hayes Creek jump-up' is a long, unrelenting drag 200km south of Darwin where there's no mercy for misjudgment or, worse, a missed gear, particularly when you're hauling a quadtrailer set grossing around 165 tonnes.

According to this Bulktrans driver, the combination of the I-Shift transmission and the inherent muscle of the 660hp engine cope with the jump-up like nothing else on the road. Allowing the transmission to do all the work in auto mode, he says road speed drops no lower than 30km/h and I-Shift never needs to drop below fifth gear.

"Over Hayes Creek there's nothing comes near it," he enthuses.lt seems the 12 speeds of the I-Shift stirrer are more than adequate for this incredibly demanding role:"The gearshifts are really smooth and you never get the feeling you'll run out of gears—not with the way this thing pulls."

While the badges on the side of the cab say '550' its performance reflects the awesome power that's on tap; Brian Murphy confirms that the Volvo has already established considerably quicker trip times than any other truck in the fleet:"Even between Darwin and Katherine (in Australian terms a short run of 300km) it's about 20 minutes quicker than anything else and a lot of that's obviously due to the way it goes over the Hayes jump-up. Like I said, no one's whinging about the way it performs. It goes the way you'd reckon 660 horsepower should go..."

But Murphy's too wise a head to be overawed by record breaking horsepower figures: he stresses that the Volvo has plenty of work to do before all the questions about SCR are answered, particularly those surrounding the system's durability and suitability to Bulktrans' arduous operating conditions.

He reports that the plan is to cover at least 250,000km a year in the FH16,hauling fourtrailer sets of jet fuel from Darwin via Yulara (Ayers Rock) to Al ice Springs,a.nd west to Kununurra."We want to know what it's capable ofjust as much as Volvo does," he adds.

The FH16 is configured as a tridem, with a lazy axle mounted on airbags behind a hubreduction double-drive bogie which rides on Volvip's eight-bag air suspension assembly.The diffs run a 4.12:1 final drive ratio feeding from an overdrive version of the 12-speed I-Shift. Like all trucks in the fleet, the Volvo's speed is limited to 94km/h.

No grief with urea

As for the SCR system, Murphy confirms: The urea side of it hasn't been an issue. There's certainly been no grief with it, none at all." So there have been no problems so far?

After hesitating for a moment.his response is commendably straightforward:"That's the sort of question you should put to Volvo but I can tell you there's been nothing to stop the truck from workingother than the wet season!"

Meanwhile, our Volvo sources tell us that trials to date have been particularly pleasing. confirming the extraordinary strength of the 660hp engine. Nonetheless, it seems the vehicle's software systems are continually being fine-tuned. We suspect that entails refining the on-board diagnostic system that controls the rate of urea injection.

From an operational viewpoint Murphy readily admits to favouring the principles of an SCR system,especially as it places no added strain on engine cooling. He points out that this system already struggles to cope with the treble whammy of exceptionally high horsepower, exceptionally high train weights (in European terms, at least) and wickedly high summer temperatures. In the Northern territories, for example, trucks and their drivers often have to endure more than 40°C.

"Cooling systems are close to their limits now soT can't see how that'll be helped by putting exhaust gas into the engine.he says, in an obvious reference to EGR."1 can't see it being much good for oil quality either."

As mentioned, a critical component of the Volvo trial is the supply of urea.To ensure availability Volvo is said to have imported its own AdBlue stocks from Europe.The urea conies in 1,000-litre containers, each with its own dispensing and metering equipment. Several of these containers are installed at Bulktrans' Darwin depot and Murphy says others are being set up at Alice Springs.Yulara and Kununurra. But while he is happy to reveal an average fuel consumption figure of around 3.1mpg (91.11it/100krn) for the FH16 which is quite respectable in this context he prefers not to give urea consumption:-All lean say at this stage is that it's minimal. Getting from Darwin to Alice and hack (3,000km) on one tank is not difficult:.

From the outside, the only indication there's something different about this particular Volvo is the 150-litre aluminium urea tank behind the driver's side of the cab and a digital dash read-out on the dash to indicate the urea level in the tank. Some critical elements of the SCR system not so easily viewed, and for the time being Volvo has the cab locked down to prevent unauthorised peeks at the big bore engine.

Volvo has already stated that depending on the size of the urea tank SCR adds between 90 and 180kg to the weight of a truck. When added to the iron of a 16-litre engine under a cab-over configuration, it led Volvo to become one of many heavy-duty truck brands clamouring for an increase in the meagre steer axle weight limits Down Under.The Australian government has responded by adding 500kg to the front steered axle allowance of all tractor units and prime movers over 15 tonnes GVW which meet the latest emissions and safety standards.

In the meantime, the debate about which emissions control system is best will continue to rumble on and the higher the horsepower, the higher the stakes. But unless another manufacturer has something truly spectacular up its sleeve, right now there's certainly no higher horsepower than the Volvo big banger toiling for Bulktrans... among others •

Tags

Organisations: Australian government
Locations: Townsville

comments powered by Disqus