Emissions technology specialist Eminox is celebrating after winning Ecofira’s Grand Premier Award for Innovation, presented at this year’s Ecofira 2011 Conference and Exhibition in Valencia, Spain.
The Ecofira Innovation Awards recognise innovative environmental projects and technologies. The top nine innovative projects and technologies were showcased at this year’s event with the technical committee selecting two to be judged by the Ecofira Committee.
Eminox won the Innovation Award for a groundbreaking project which upgraded 343 Barcelona city buses to today’s strictest emissions standards. Transport Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), the major bus and metro provider to Barcelona needed to upgrade its Euro 2 and 3 buses to meet a minimum standard of Euro 4. In fact they went even further by choosing to use Eminox SCRT® technology, a combination of CRT® (Continuously Regenerating Trap) and SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction). The SCRT®solution reduces Particulate Matter (PM) by more than 90% and NOx by more than 70%. Independent tests show that Eminox’s SCRT® can upgrade buses as old as Euro 2 to Euro 5 and EEV (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicle), today’s most advanced emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles. The SCRT® is a cost-effective solution for reducing harmful pollution; 15 buses can be upgraded using SCRT® for the price of a single new bus.
Eminox’s challenge
TMB wanted solutions to upgrade buses including low floor buses to Euro 5 or EEV standard.
Up until now there has been no retrofit solution available for low floor city buses. To meet this challenge, Eminox’s team of engineers developed a new system design including new SCR catalyst configurations and unique mixing technology.
The project also demanded technology specifically designed to work effectively in urban environments as buses are a major contributor to urban pollution. The SCRT® retrofit systems were specifically calibrated to work effectively in urban environments with real-time NOx reduction monitored to demonstrate effective calibration.
Eminox’s Compact SCRT® solution successfully upgraded TMB’s buses without reducing space on board. 70% NOx reduction was consistently achieved and it is estimated that 263 tonnes of NOx will be reduced each year from the 363 buses fitted by Eminox.
Mike Galey, Eminox’s Director of Marketing said: “This award is a fantastic achievement for Eminox and is a testament to the team’s dedication and commitment to this project. This is the largest retrofit programme of its kind; the team took a bold approach in developing the technology to fit the tight space envelopes of the vehicles involved. It is a great honour to have been recognised at such an important event in the industry’s calendar.”