DPF cleaning could solve taxi emissions concerns 08 January 2015

Regularly maintaining DPFs (diesel particulate filters) on taxis could not only see an end to the taxi strikes of last year, but also help diesel taxi operators to better meet emissions targets.

That's the claim from automotive reconditioning specialist DPF Clean Team, which points to the problems that arose last year when Boris Johnson ordered the scrapping of 3,000 older taxis on pollution grounds.

DPF Clean Team managing director Cameron Bryce insists that simply cleaning DPF filters on older taxi fleets at regular intervals would have given them a new lease of life and specifically reduced engine-out emissions – so avoiding the scrappage scheme..

"Taxis spend most of the time doing short journeys, which can lead to higher levels of deposit build-up in the DPF and may cause DPF regeneration to be unsuccessful," states Bryce.

"For a DPF to be successful in reducing diesel emissions, it needs to be driven at a road speed higher than 40 mph over a longer journey," he continues.

"Regular cleaning of the DPFs would have kept them performing at an optimum level and could have kept 3,000 taxis on the road last year."

Euro 5 emissions came into effect for taxis in 2012, covering a reduction in overall emissions, but the biggest challenge was the 92% reduction in tail pipe particulates. For many taxi manufacturers, fitting DPFs to old and new vehicles was seen as the easy answer, along with altering the exhaust gas circulation and engine recalibration.

"We all know that DPFs are not cheap to replace, but cleaning definitely offers a very cost effective alternative," insists Bryce.

"Not only can it restore the DPF back to optimum performance but regular cleaning costs just hundreds of pounds – significantly less than the thousands of pounds a new DPF can fetch."

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
DPF Clean Team

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