Experts meet to debate air quality challenge of older UK bus fleets16 June 2014

Older buses should have emissions busting technology retrofitted to reduce public health issues from air pollution, rather than waiting up to 20 years for new vehicles to dominate UK bus fleets.

That was one of the key points delivered at a workshop recently, where representatives from government and local authorities discussed exhaust emissions reduction technology.

The event was hosted by Eminox, a designer and manufacturer of SCRT emissions reducing technology for heavy-duty diesel vehicles, to highlight the positive impact this can have on UK bus fleets.

Delegates heard keynote speaker Dr Andreas Mayer, from VERT Association in Switzerland, describe the high health cost of air pollution.

He urged industry to tackle the problem on existing vehicles: "Society needs mobility, and diesel engines will be needed for many years to come," said Dr Mayer.

"The challenge is that engines today are more toxic than 20 years ago because they are emitting smaller particles," he added.

Martin Taylor, retrofit product development manager for Eminox, described the company's SCRT system – a combination of CRT (continuously regenerating trap) and SCR (selective catalytic reduction) technology.

It virtually eliminates particulate matter (PM), hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, while also reducing NOx emissions by more than 90%.

Attendees heard how operator Metro is addressing air quality in West Yorkshire by having SCRT technology fitted to 119 BM Condor school buses from Leeds, under the Clean Bus Technology Fund, a Department for Transport (DfT) initiative.

They saw a BMC Condor bus being equipped with an SCRT system proven to reduce NOx by 97%, particulate matter (PM) by 94% and NO2 by 56%.

This effectively upgrades the school buses from Euro 3 to beyond Euro 5 emissions performance, at a fraction of the cost of buying new vehicles.

Liam Kennedy (pictured), principal engineer for fuels and lubricants at Millbrook Proving Ground, explained the tests that had been devised to measure the emissions reductions delivered by SCRT in real world environments.

Other speakers included Finn Coyle, environmental manager at Transport for London, who described how SCRT had been retrofitted to more than 1,000 buses operating on TfL's most polluted routes.

And David Pryke, head of the DfT's air quality group, said it was vital that those involved in local transport and public health understood the different type of emissions from diesel vehicles and the technology applications available to help mitigate the problem.

Eminox says that buses as old as Euro 2 can be retrofitted to reach emissions performance levels that not even today's newly manufactured vehicles achieve.

Author
Laura Cork

Related Companies
Eminox Ltd
Transport for London

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