Volvos for '07
Volvo's lower emissions engines include 3 models, 22 ratings.
Tom Berg
Senior Equipment Editor
Volvo Trucks' 2007-model diesels will include three displacements and 22 ratings from 305 to 600 horsepower, widening applications possibilities and making the engines more appealing to potential buyers, the company announced last month. Volvo execs also said the high cost of developing the products to meet stricter exhaust emissions limits will be passed on to customers via a $7,500 per truck surcharge.
The new engines will include a D11 and D13 – which will replace the current D12 – and the previously introduced D16. All will use advanced fuel systems, turbochargers, electronics and other improvements, as well as diesel particulate filters, to allow the engines to burn more cleanly and emit far fewer pollutants than the D12, which will be phased out. Volvo will continue to offer Cummins' 15-liter ISX in '07 form in certain truck models.
The D11 and D13 use the same "architecture" as MP series engines previously announced by Mack Trucks, Volvo's sister company. Mack is working on its version of Volvo's high-horsepower D16. The two companies' engines will differ in operating characteristics, but all will be built at Volvo Powertrain's Hagerstown, Md., factory, which was refitted to produce them.
Fuel economy for the D11 and D13 will be "as good as or better than the D12," based on comparable ratings, said Peter Karlsten, president of Volvo Trucks North America. "Drivers will enjoy outstanding driveability from the engines' power, torque and response. And everyone benefits from lower emissions made possible by Volvo's advanced diesel technology." The announcement was made to trade press reporters in Tampa, Fla., just before the opening of the ATA Technology & Maintenance Council's annual meeting. The event was webcast to dealers and customers at more than 500 locations.
The $7,500 surcharge is lower on average than the $7,000 to $10,000 premium for an '07 heavy duty diesel already announced by International Truck and Engine, but still formidable, Volvo executives acknowledged. The surcharge will not be negotiable because it's needed to allow Volvo to recoup the $150 million it invested to design the new engines and put them into production, said Scott Kress, senior vice president for sales and marketing. If customers refuse to pay that much and competitive pressures force a rethinking, then prices of complete trucks might be adjusted, but the surcharge itself will stay intact.
Design features of the new engines are based on the highly successful D12, executives said. These include a variable geometry turbocharger with a sliding nozzle, an overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder, one-piece rigid-deck cylinder head, and dual-solenoid fuel injectors. To these were added a viscous damper on the camshaft and rear-mounted gear drain, which absorb torsional vibrations and route them to the flywheel; ultra-high-pressure fuel system, with fuel injected at up to 35,000 psi; "precision flow" exhaust-gas recirculation, with a low-mounted jacketwater gas cooler; steel "ladder" reinforcement of the main bearing area to handle higher combustion pressures; and a dual-element diesel particulate filter, or DPF, which also acts as a muffler.
All models will need ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel to allow DPFs to live and meet the upcoming exhaust emissions limits. These will lower nitrous oxide, particulates and other exhaust ingredients by 90 percent or more. Refiners will begin producing ultra-low-sulfur diesel this summer and ramp up to complete compliance by fall. The fuel will eventually contain only 15 parts per million of sulfur compared to 500 ppm now.
The '07 engines are also positioned to meet even stricter limits in 2010, executives said.
Volvo's DPF design includes an oxidation catalyst to handle carbon monoxide, a "monolith" filter to strip out soot, temperature sensors to monitor regeneration that burns off the particulates, and inlet and outlet modules. The device will be offered in two forms – as a stack-mount unit and a "compact" version that will hang on the frame under the hood just behind a truck's right-front tire. On current Volvos, that space on the right side of the frame is empty. Fleetguard Co. will make the DPFs for Volvo. A DPF system will weigh about 130 pounds more than a current exhaust system.
Over-the-road operations will cause the engine to produce enough exhaust heat to regenerate the soot filter in either type of DPF. Local operations with cooler-running engines may require active regeneration. For this, a "seventh injector" will spray small amounts of fuel into the exhaust just downstream of the turbocharger. This will react with the filter to produce heat, but not flame. What's left is ash from motor oil that's consumed in the cylinders, and that ash has to be removed manually.
Servicing will require removing the entire DPF with lifting tools, taking out the filter element and blowing out the accumulated ash, then reassembling the unit and reinstalling it on the truck. A transmission jack can lift out the compact DPF, while a special jacking tool will grab and lower the stack-mount unit, then raise it for re-attachment to the stack. From start to finish, the cleaning will take 90 minutes by a trained technician, according to Ed Saxman, a Volvo product planner. By federal law this service must not be required for at least 100,000 miles, and it will probably go intervals of 150,000 or more miles before servicing is needed.
Three engine models and a wide range of power and torque outputs will allow Volvo to meet a wider variety of applications and customer needs, executives said. The percentage of trucks built with Volvo's own engines – now at more than half – might also increase. The company now offers only the D12 and the Cummins ISX in its trucks. The 15-liter ISX will continue to be offered in VNL and VT models. Executives supplied other details of the new Volvo engines:
• The 10.8-liter D11 will come in seven ratings from 325 to 405 horsepower and torque of 1,250 to 1,450 pounds-feet. At 2,175 pounds dry, it will be Volvo's lightweight engine and offered in the VNM and VNL highway tractors for pick up & delivery, bulk hauling, less-than-truckload and regional distribution duties.
• The 12.8-liter D13, which will be Volvo's highest-volume engine model, will have eight ratings from 335 to 485 horsepower and 1,350 to 1,650 pounds-feet. It weighs 2,250 pounds dry and will be used on VNM and VNL tractors, for various linehaul applications, and in the VHD truck and tractor for vocational service.
• The 16.1-liter D16, introduced a year ago, will continue with updates for '07, including the DPF. It will have seven ratings from 450 to 600 horsepower and 1,650 to 2,050 pounds-feet. Maximum horsepower will be 25 less than now and top torque will be down by 200 pounds-feet because of the turbo's limited ability to deliver inlet air at '07 specifications, Saxman explained. As now, the D16 will be available in VNL and VT highway tractors. Its 3,070-pound weight will be acceptable to some owner-operators, heavy haulers and performance-oriented small fleets.
Common architecture and design among the three engine models, and even some common parts, will allow technicians to service and repair the diesels using similar techniques. Reduced service and repair times should result from placement of parts and components for easy access and replacement. Oil drain intervals are up to 30,000 miles for the D11, up to 45,000 miles for the D13, and up to 50,000 miles for the D16. All will require CJ-4 motor oil.
Maintenance Continued...
