DPF Retrofit Evaluations

 

A contractor should be able to determine without hesitance which piece of equipment will be best suited for a DPF retrofit. Even for me with 14 years of heavy and highway construction field experience I can envision which equipment will be best suited to study. The evaluation should begin by examining various pieces of equipment that will be active most times during and others which will be used sporadically. Using these types of equipment for the evaluation will take into account a wide range of possible exhaust temperatures.

 

I would recommend beginning the study with a front end loader.  A front end loader is used for multiple activities and is used frequently during the workday. It can be used to load triaxls, unload flatbed trailers or move materials and smaller equipment around the project . The evaluation should also include a piece of equipment that is used intermittently during the workday. A good example of a piece of equipment that is used intermittently is a rubber tire excavator. This type of excavator has multiple uses and is not as limited as a tracked excavator. Rubber tire excavators are a nice choice for on-road light digging or grading where damage to the pavement needs to be controlled. 

 

Both pieces must have exhaust temperature monitoring devices installed on the stacks for a period of approximately one week. All data will be tabulated and examined to determine which pieces will be best suited for a diesel particulate filter. As I said in my previous post, I believe that a front end loader will achieve the proper exhaust temperatures for a passive DPF as long as the periods of idle time are limited during the work day. The results will also show that the exhaust temperatures for the rubber tire excavator fall below the minimum required for a passive DPF. The choice of retrofit device on the excavator will be an active DPF. 

 

Even if all test results show that exhaust temperatures do not meet minimum requirements for passive filters, an active filter can be a retrofit last resort.