Belgian bus operator successfully completes Eminox advanced SCRT^® technology retrofit programme

De Lijn, the Belgian public transport operator, has completed a 9.4 million Euro retrofit programme to reduce emissions from 1,690 buses. Most recently, 247 of these buses have been fitted with Eminox’s advanced SCRT^® emissions system to reduce emissions of both Particulate Matter (PM) and NOx. City buses in Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges – along with regional and inter-city buses across Limburg, Brabant, East- and West-Flanders and Antwerp – have been fitted with the new technology and are now reducing an estimated 80,520kg of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions each year.

De Lijn started working with Eminox in 2001 on a retrofit programme to reduce PM emissions. A total of around 1,500 Eminox CRT^® (Continuously Regenerating Trap) systems, that reduce PM emissions by more than 90%, were fitted to their buses,.

De Lijn also wanted to address increasing health concerns associated with NOx pollution from diesel engines and in 2006 started testing the Eminox SCRT^® system on a trial bus. The bus had a data-logger and modem that continuously monitored high NOx reduction in real-time and in real world operating conditions. The SCRT^® system proved its reliability throughout the 50,000km covered during the trial, which was vital to De Lijn’s decision to choose this system over its competitors.

Eminox’s SCRT^® system eliminates more than 70% of NOx and virtually all PM. The system combines CRT^® with SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology to achieve emissions standards equivalent to Euro V on vehicles as old as Euro II.

Freddy Van Steenberghe, Department Head at De Lijn and pioneer of De Lijn’s programme to reduce bus emissions, commented: “By fitting Eminox’s SCRT^® systems, our bus fleet now has the lowest emissions in Europe. The SCRT^® system consistently achieves an impressive 75 to 80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides, delivering emissions performance better than Euro V. The quality of the system made it an easy choice for us to select Eminox over other companies, with the added bonus of its products being exceptionally good value for money.”

“We have worked in close partnership with De Lijn for over ten years now,” said Mike Galey, Director of Marketing for Eminox. “We began with trials of our CRT^® on fifteen Euro II buses back in 2001 helping De Lijn to reduce PM emissions from much of their fleet.  We are delighted that we have been able to work with them on this latest programme that leads the way in NOx emissions reduction.”

The SCRT^® system uses latest emissions reduction technology patented by Johnson Matthey, combined with Eminox’s engineering expertise. The result is a system that eliminates more than 70% NOx and virtually all PM present in diesel exhausts to bring Euro II vehicles up to the standard of Euro V.