Belgian bus operator De Lijn will be the first to adopt Eminox advanced SCRT

Flanders public transport operator De Lijn is to fit Eminox advanced SCRT® emissions technology to dramatically reduce emissions from its province-wide bus fleet. 165 buses, including city buses in Antwerp and Limburg plus regional and inter-city buses, are to be fitted with the new technology in 2008.

Emissions reduction from the Eminox SCRT® system will include eliminating up to 80% of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and virtually eliminating Particulate Matter. The system combines CRT® (Continuously Regenerating Trap) with SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology to achieve emissions standards equivalent to the Euro 5 standard on these older vehicles.

The Eminox system has been on trial at De Lijn since November 2006. A data-logger and modem on the trial bus were able to show real-time performance. To date it has travelled 47,300 kilometres, registering high NOx reduction as well as virtually eliminating Particulate Matter (PM), Hydrocarbons (HC) and Carbon Monoxide (CO). The SCRT® system also proved its reliability throughout the trial, which was pivotal to De Lijn’s decision to choose it over other systems.

Freddy Van Steenberghe, Department Head, of De Lijn, said: “We have been working with Eminox to reduce city bus emissions since 2000. This announcement follows a successful bus trial, in which the SCRT® system consistently achieved an impressive 75-80% reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx).

“This plan for NOx reduction follows a long-term programme to reduce particulate matter and help Flanders meet air quality targets. It will be the start of a programme to upgrade our Euro 3 buses to achieve emissions levels as low as Euro 5.”

“We have worked in partnership with De Lijn for over six years,” said Mike Galey, Director of Marketing for Eminox. “We began with trials of our CRT® on 15 Euro 2 buses back in 2001 and have now supplied around 700 systems, helping De Lijn to reduce PM emissions from much of their fleet. We’re looking forward to working together on this new phase of their retrofit programme – and helping De Lijn to also reduce their NOx emissions and improve air quality.”

The SCRT® system uses latest emissions reduction technology patented by Johnson Matthey, combined with Eminox’s engineering expertise. The result is a system that reduces all pollutants present in diesel exhaust to bring older buses up to the standard of the cleanest new vehicles.