Caterpillar Marine is now offering Cat C280 medium-speed diesel engines for compliance with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 and International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tier III standards.
The EPA Tier 4 standards has applied to all new US-flagged ships since January 2014 and IMO III standards will apply to all new ships entering IMO nitrogen oxide (NOx) Emissions Control Areas (ECAs) starting in January 2016.
The C280 engines are available in eight, 12 and 16-cylinder models spanning a power range from 2,300 ˗ 5,060 kW as main engines – conventional and diesel electric – and also as auxiliary generator sets. Compared to earlier units, they consume less fuel, reduce emissions and have lower through-life owning and operating costs.
Over three decades of continuous development, the C280 engine series has clocked up more than 45 million operating hours and has been mostly fitted to offshore supply vessels, coastal cargo ships, tugs, fishing vessels, inland waterway craft and workboats.
According to Nathan Kelly, Caterpillar Marine production definition engineer, the introduction of the Tier 4 engine range is an important milestone because customers can now benefit from the latest NOx emission technology based on selective catalytic reduction (SCR). “In marine applications, we specifically chose the best technology to fit the needs of our industry,” he commented. “We view SCR as the preferred option for the commercial marine industry.”
“The C280 is already renowned for its high uptime, reliability and durability, but for these Tier 4 engines our priority was to achieve the lowest lifecycle owning and operating cost. We have succeeded in this by improving engine fuel efficiency,” Kelly explained.
“Unlike previous emissions Tiers, our Tier 4 engines can run at optimal fuel efficiency because the SCR system is in place to reduce the higher NOx output. Any concerns about Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) cost are more than offset by the improved fuel efficiency as a result of utilizing the SCR technology.”
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