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What consumers don’t
understand—and by consumers Mark Bettner, heavy-duty lubricants
manager at Citgo, means everyone from the father of three filling
up the station wagon for a cross-country trip to the owners and
operators of heavy duty construction equipment—is that it’s
not inexpensive to create, test, and license new oils and lubricants
these days, especially when the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is constantly creating more stringent emissions requirements.
“The oils we are
producing today are far better than they were many years ago,”
Bettner says. “The new emissions requirements are having a
huge impact on our industry. It cost about $1.6 million to license
a new oil in 1970. It cost $16 million to do it in 2002. It will
cost about $25 million to license the next oil that comes out in
2006. This is the impact on our industry, the economic side of the
picture that consumers don’t really see. They don’t bat
an eye when they’re asked to pay these high prices for something
like bottled water. But they wiggle when they have to pay a little
extra to buy something that costs $25 million to license.”
The bad news is that
Bettner and his peers in the oil and lubrication industry are certain
to hear more complaints from the owners and operators of heavy-duty
construction equipment. The EPA has issued stringent new emissions
control regulations for diesel engines, both for on- and off-road
trucks and equipment. And as engine manufacturers build and introduce
the new engines that will meet these higher standards, the companies
that produce oil and lubrication will have to create new products
to keep these engines running smoothly.
The process isn’t
easy or cheap. Manufacturers must not only develop these new fuels;
they must also submit them to extensive testing. They then must
spend countless dollars licensing and marketing their new products.
It’s a process that
the oil and lubrication industries have had to become familiar with.
Consider the changes the manufacturers of engines, oils, and lubrications
for heavy-duty off-road diesel equipment alone have already gone
through. In 1996, the EPA set its first emissions standards for
such vehicles, changes that required such engines to reduce their
emissions of nitrogen oxides by 50% and of particulate matter by
60%. That was considered Tier 2 changes. The EPA then further tightened
these standards for its Tier 3 emissions regulations, requiring
that off-road diesel engines reduce their emissions of both nitrogen
oxides and particulate matter by another 6%. Those requirements
are just now being phased in, and the engines that meet them will
soon be hitting the market.
But even as engine manufacturers
and oil and lubrication companies deal with the new hotter-running
engines that meet the EPA’s Tier 3 requirements, they must
also begin worrying about meeting even stricter federal requirements
down the road. In May 2004, the EPA officially announced its Clean
Air Nonroad Diesel Rule, which requires a 90% reduction in the emissions
of nitrogen oxides and a 95% reduction in the emissions of particulate
matter. To meet these demands, off-road diesel engines must reduce
their emissions of sulfur to 500 ppm in 2007 and 15 ppm by 2010.
It’s clear, then,
that officials in the oil and lubrication industry must be more
flexible and creative than ever, something that everyone in the
business fully understands.
“The challenges
are becoming more difficult. The hurdles we have to get over are
getting higher and higher with each level of new standards,”
says Mike Lynskey, heavy-duty oil technology manager with Castrol
BP Lubricants Americas. “And though we are getting more familiar
with the process of constantly upgrading our products, we are not
getting used to the challenges and the costs of doing this. It’s
a very expensive process to run engine tests to qualify a lubricant
to the new standards. It is something we are prepared to do, though.”
And how costly can meeting
a new emissions standard be? Lynskey can’t speak for every
industry player, of course, but he knows it costs his company millions
of dollars to create and test the new products it needs to meet
changing emissions requirements.
“To go out there
and have the confidence that your products are going to work satisfactorily
and that they are going to work with everyone, both on-road and
off-road, in all different applications, that doesn’t come
inexpensively,” he says.
So next time you’re
tempted to complain about the costs of your fuel or lubricant, stop
and consider what the folks who developed them have been going through.
A New Standard
While the EPA’s new emissions standards pose challenges for
both engine manufacturers and the producers of oils and lubricants,
officials in the diesel-engine business agree that the new requirements
are a necessity. They will, after all, result in cleaner air.
Under the new requirements
off-road diesel engines, including those used in construction equipment,
would have to cut their emission of pollutants by more than 90%
by 2014. Under the same rules, the amount of sulfur in the fuel
would have to drop 99% by 2010.
Officials with the EPA
estimate that the non-road diesel rules when fully phased in would
reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by 825,000 tpy when compared
to current levels. The agency estimates that the emission of particulate
matter would drop by 125,000 tons annually. These numbers are so
high because, according to EPA estimates, equipment impacted by
the new rule generates 44% of all mobile source particulate emissions
and 12% of all mobile source nitrogen oxide emissions.
The off-road diesel rule
is historic in that it marks the first time that advanced emissions
control technologies will be incorporated into off-road equipment.
Allen Schaeffer, executive
director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a trade group based in
Frederick, MD, says that his industry worked with the EPA on the
latest round of emissions requirements for off-road diesel machines.
The reason? Industry experts understand that clean-air regulations
are here to stay, and for good reason.
“There was no controversy
from the industry during the last round of off-road changes,”
Schaeffer says. “And the changes are significant. They will
deliver one of the most significant reductions in particulate matter
out there. We are saying ‘yes’ to cleaner fuel for off-road
machines. We can do it. We might just need some flexibility here
and there.”
There was little doubt
that industry officials and the EPA would work together on the emissions
requirements, Schaeffer says. The diesel industry, after all, is
an $85 billion-a-year industry, one that includes engine manufacturers
and fuel refineries. EPA officials understand that they can’t
enact changes that, though beneficial for clean air, will also significantly
hamper the growth of the diesel industry.
It made sense, then,
for the Diesel Technology Forum to work together with the EPA to
introduce requirements that would protect the environment without
causing undue harm to the diesel industry.
“We’ve gotten
deeply involved in helping the EPA understand the technical challenges
that the industry faces from these changes,” Schaeffer says.
“We have worked hard to make government officials more aware
of the market pressure the industry faces. If no one buys this new
technology, then there are no clean-air benefits. Industry has done
a lot to try and impress upon the EPA that we need to keep market
pressures in mind as we go forward.”
The road to lower off-road
diesel emissions will not be entirely smooth, though, Schaeffer
admits, even with the work the industry has done with the EPA. The
industry still faces a number of challenges as it strives to meet
the changing requirements.
One of the main ones?
The off-road industry relies on an extremely diverse variety of
engine types and equipment, everything from portable electric generators
that run on less than 10 horsepower worth of energy to 6,000-horsepower
mine shovels.
Another challenge is
that the industry’s engines have to handle such a wide range
of tasks. Off-road diesel engines have to, for example, both propel
their vehicles and operate attachments such as buckets, blades,
and shovels. These engines, too, feature a wide range of exhaust
temperatures because of the industry’s very low engine speeds.
Engine manufacturers must also deal with significant space restraints
of engine compartment size.
Engine manufacturers
and oil and lube companies, then, must create new products that
address these challenges, maintain the high performance that equipment
and vehicle owners demand, and still meet the stringent requirements
set forth by the EPA. Talk about a tough task.
Greater Challenges
Fortunately, officials in the oil and lube industry are not unfamiliar
with such challenges. Consider Dan Arcy. As product marketing manager
for Shell Lubricants, he has gone through a seemingly countless
string of EPA emissions changes. The challenges he and his peers
now face, though, are some of the biggest he’s seen.
To meet the new emissions
standards required by the EPA—for both on- and off-road equipment—companies
such as Shell need to be more creative than ever, Arcy says.
“We are investing
more and more technology into creating these new oils,” he
says. “We are coming up with a higher-performance product each
time we have to upgrade to a new category. To get to this level,
the engine manufacturers are going to have to install new components
that are going to be significantly different than what they are
using currently. That’s a big change for us, too, because we
have to come up with oils and lubricants that work with these new
components. And really, we don’t yet know exactly what all
these components are going to be.”
As an example of the
challenges his industry faces, Arcy points to the types of detergents
the oil and lube industry uses in its products. These detergents
usually consist of a sulfinate. Sulfinates, though, contain sulfur,
and the industry will soon face far stricter sulfur limits. Oil
and lube makers, then, will have to study new types of detergents
that have little or no sulfinates in them.
“The after-treatment
devices on these new engines could be negatively impacted if you
use a high-sulfated ash oil,” Arcy notes. “When the oil
is burned in the combustion chamber, you will still emit an ash
in the exhaust. With the new after-treatment devices, the faster
you will plug up the diesel particulate filter. In a sense, it’s
not just the engine you are lubricating. Instead, you are looking
at the whole system. The after-treatment device, for example, has
to be protected, as well.”
To make things even more
challenging, the manufacturers of oils and lubricants will also
have to deal with two different emissions standards for several
years, one for on-road diesel engines and another for off-road ones.
The EPA has drafted new
emissions standards for on-road diesel engines that take effect
in 2007 and 2010. That means, then, that on-road and off-road diesel
engines will have different emissions standards until 2014, when
both will be mostly equal.
This is not necessarily
good news for the oil and lubricant industry. The goal, which is
a challenging one, is to create one lubricant that works for both
on- and off-road engines, even when these engines will face different
EPA regulations.
“There are a lot
of mixed fleets out there, people who have both on-road and off-road
vehicles and equipment,” says Lynskey, from Castrol BP. “Realistically,
our goal is to be able to cover both the off-road and on-road industries
with one lubricant. We are working on creating one lubricant that
meets the new emissions requirements and is not detrimental to either
the off- or on-road vehicles.”
Lynskey says that the
technology and know-how to accomplish this is available. And the
EPA backs him up.
According to an EPA press
release, engine manufacturers are on target to introduce their new
cleaner diesel on-road engines in 2007 without missing any deadlines.
“We are pleased
with the progress made in developing new engines for 2007 because
clean engines—in combination with the clean low-sulfur diesel
fuel—will help us meet the goals of the Clean Air Act and further
protect public health and the environment,” says EPA Assistant
Administrator for Air and Radiation Jeff Holmstead in a written
statement.
And in good news for
the oil and lubrication industry, and for the owner/operators who
rely on their products, in late 2003 the EPA also reported that
the oil industry is on track to introduce the 15-ppm sulfur diesel
fuel needed to operate these clean diesel engines.
Again, though the new
on-road diesel requirements are a challenge to the oil and lubricants
industries, the 2007 requirements for on-road diesel vehicles, once
fully phased in, will provide significant clean-air benefits. According
to the EPA, the 2007 requirements will reduce 2.6 million tons of
smog-causing nitrogen oxide. At the same time, they will cause a
reduction of 110,000 tons of soot or particulate matter each year.
The agency estimates that these reductions will result in the prevention
of 8,300 premature deaths, 5,500 cases of chronic bronchitis, and
17,600 cases of acute bronchitis in children each year.
For Reginald Dias, director
of commercial products for Conoco Phillips Lubricants, it makes
sense that the EPA would push one end of the diesel industry—in
this case the on-road portion of the industry—to meet emissions
requirements first, and then turn toward the second major portion
of the business, off-road diesel vehicles.
“Sometimes it is
difficult to move the entire industry as a whole,” Dias says.
“Sometimes it’s easier to move it one segment at a time.”
Though he understands
the rationale, Dias says he also recognizes that the two conflicting
emissions standards might make life more difficult for his industry
and his company.
“A lot of people
in the off-highway portion of the industry will be calling for the
old lubricant. The challenge, then, will be covering the needs for
new equipment without compromising the quality of service to the
old equipment,” Dias says.
The new engines ask oils
and lubricants to do more, as well. Ed Newman, marketing and advertising
manager for AMSOIL, spoke with his company’s engineers and
reported that the new engines demand lubricants with improved oxidation
resistance, shear stability, acid neutralization, and soot dispersancy.
Taking Care of New
Engines
The new off-road diesel engines, the ones that meet the EPA’s
Tier 3 requirements, are soon to hit the streets. This means that
vehicle owners and operators may have to change their preventive
maintenance. Those who don’t may find that the latest engines
don’t operate as smoothly—or cost-effectively—as
they should.
The reason? Engines sporting
late-model emissions control systems run hotter than do others,
putting extra stress on lubrication systems. And this issue will
only grow more critical as manufacturers create new engines to meet
the EPA’s on-road emissions requirements for 2007 and the off-road
requirements for 2014.
Bettner, from Citgo,
recommends that owners and operators create a preventive-maintenance
list and follow it as strictly as possible. This list, he says,
should contain regular oil analysis.
“It’s important
to get a trend reading on your fleet to best understand what is
happening with your oil, especially with the new engines,”
Bettner says. “That is the best advice we can give to any owner/operator
out there. You have to do oil analysis to make sure you are getting
the best performance possible.”
Owner/operators might
also have to schedule more frequent oil changes, says AMSOIL’s
Newman. Engine manufacturers have started to release their own diesel-oil
performance specifications and, in so doing, have recommended shorter
oil-change intervals. Some change intervals of 40,000 to 50,000
miles have been shortened to 25,000 miles.
For the most part, though,
owner/operators should use common sense when dealing with engines
with late-model emissions control systems.
“Oil analysis is
really one of the best ways for owners and operators to guarantee
that they will get the best performance out of the new engines,”
Lynskey says. “Oil analysis gives you an insight into how the
oil is working in the engine, how the engine is performing, and
how the lubricant is performing within the engine. It helps guarantee
that the owner/operator is getting the best oil drain—is maximizing
the oil drain without over-stressing the engine. Oil analysis allows
owner/operators to get the maximum output from their equipment,
to make sure their equipment is up and running when they need it.”
A Time for Auto Lube
Systems?
With newer-model engines running hotter than ever, more owners and
operators may turn to automatic lube systems, systems that dispense
lubrication to the critical components of an engine without any
involvement from the operator. Such systems can help owners better
maintain their engines and guarantee top performance from their
on-road and off-road vehicles.
Hart Kruppe, vice president
of Midwest Lube, which manufactures its own automatic lube system,
says that such systems have grown in popularity during the last
five years. The reason, he says, is simple.
“Operators are finding
out that automatic lube systems increase the productivity of machines,”
Kruppe says. “They are finding out that the machines don’t
break down as much.”
Vehicles and equipment
are getting more expensive, Kruppe says. Because of this, owners
are less likely to wear a machine down and then simply purchase
another. Instead, owners are seeking ways to lengthen the lifespan
of their machines. Using an automatic lube system, which guarantees
that an engine’s components receive the proper amount of lubrication,
is one way to do this.
Owners who use automatic
lube systems can often run their machines two to three times longer
because they are rarely down for repairs or maintenance, Kruppe
says.
“Everything these
owners have has to work well for them to be productive,” observes
Kruppe. “If you don’t have as much downtime, you are out
there being more productive. And that’s what everyone in this
industry wants.”
There’s only one
problem, according to Kruppe. The manufacturers of automatic lube
systems haven’t done a good enough job spreading the word about
the benefits of their systems. If they had, Kruppe asserts, the
industry would be booming even more than it has been.
“I started with
these systems in 1979. I couldn’t give them away back then,”
Kruppe says. “But now that there is a bigger need for these,
now that machines and equipment are getting so expensive, people
are starting to understand how important automatic lube systems
can be. I only expect them to grow more popular as time goes on.”
Dan Rafter is a technical
writer based in Chesterton, IN.
GEC - March/April 2005
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