Weldex, the UK’s largest crawler crane hire company, has retrofitted three of its crawler cranes with Continuously Regenerating Trap (CRT®) diesel particulate filters (DPFs) from Eminox, to make them compliant for use in the London NRMM Low Emission Zone (LEZ).

Since September 2015, Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM), with engines of a net power of 37kW and 560kW, which are used on any major development within Greater London have been required to meet Stage IIIA emissions regulations as a minimum or retrofit best available technology; whilst NRMM used on any site within the Central Activity Zone or Canary Wharf has to meet Stage IIIB as a minimum.

Research by the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) estimates that diesel engine NRMM used on construction sites is responsible for 15% of Particulate Matter (PM10) emissions in Greater London.  Diesel exhaust emissions and especially PM10 have been classified as carcinogenic to humans, with an increased risk of lung cancer and other serious health-related conditions.  From 2020 any development site in Greater London will be required to meet Stage IIIB, whilst central London and Canary Wharf will need to meet Stage IV

Eminox supplies bus, truck, rail, and non-road Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) around the world, as well as being the major European supplier of emission control exhaust systems for retrofit to vehicles already in service, utilising leading emission control technologies, including CRT®.

Eminox has been supplying exhaust and emission control systems for the non-road market since 1988 and has successfully retrofitted CRT systems to a range of NRMM, including cranes, dumper trucks, excavators, concrete pumps, piling rigs and wheel loaders.

The Eminox CRT currently represents best available technology for achieving compliance. Retrofitting Eminox CRTs to Weldex’s cranes was a fast and cost-effective route to rendering them compliant for work within London’s NRMM Low Emission Zone. (Prices start as low as £5,000 per machine).    Eminox fitters installed the CRTs at Weldex sites, providing a convenient, flexible and practical service which did not disrupt the construction schedule.  The Eminox mobile fitters can install systems on London LEZ sites in as little as one day, keeping down-time for construction contractors to a minimum.

The Eminox CRT retrofit system is VERT certified and approved by the Energy Savings Trust (EST) for NRMM.  It is renowned for being a robust, reliable system and Eminox can supply spare filters so that machinery can continue to be used while the original filter is being cleaned by its sister company, Ceramex.  The filters are designed to be easily accessible and can be removed for cleaning at required intervals, depending on the level of use and type of machine.

Weldex was established in 1979 and supplies cranes to construction companies across global markets.  It is known both for the quality of its machinery and for its ability to deliver safe, successful contract lift services in every environment.  Alongside crane hire and contract lifts, Weldex manufactures and supplies a wide range of rigging equipment and provides a full inspection, test and repair service.

Garry Jeffrey, Service Manager at Weldex, says;

“Weldex and our clients are very happy with the DPF exhaust systems, professionally installed by Eminox.  The systems are working well and have been trouble-free.  We have found the CRT retrofit to be an effective and efficient solution to control exhaust emission levels on engines working in central London.”