Gainsborough-based emission specialists Eminox Limited has been awarded a contract to jointly develop and manufacture Stage V standard exhaust after-treatment systems (EATS) with engine manufacturers Liebherr Machines Bulle SA.

The two companies will work together on Liebherr’s Low Power Engines (LPE) and High Power Engines (HPE), expected to launch in 2019.

Eminox has worked with Liebherr for many years, supplying silencers, pipework and specialist spark arrestors, and was also selected for Liebherr’s Stage IV EATS (the Liebherr SCR only system), which are currently in volume production.

One of the most significant challenges of Stage V is the requirement for further reductions in particulate matter, including particulate number count (PN), demanding the use of DPF technology, alongside continued tight control of NOx. With Stage V legislation announced soon after the implementation of Stage IV, maintaining the space envelope for EATS was critical to Liebherr in order to avoid machine re-design.

The Stage V approach incorporates advanced exhaust after-treatment technologies including SCR on Filter technology, a DPF coated with SCR. Liebherr pioneered this technology under the brand name Liebherr SCRFilter, already at Stage IV, to produce a range of machines to meet strict local emissions requirements for countries such as Switzerland.

This was one of the key building blocks which Eminox used to develop a compact range of EATS variants for the Liebherr Stage V solution, packaged within an almost identical space envelope.

Different inlet and outlet modules in different orientations will cover eight different engines and more than 140 separate machine types, with LPE engines ranging in power from 230 – 330kW and HPE engines from 330 – 505kW.

The Stage IV option solution has already been tested and met Stage V emissions levels. So this concept was developed with limited changes to become the solution for LPE. HPE ranges present additional challenges in terms of packaging – a linear system, as developed for LPE, would not fit the available space envelope and meet the backpressure target.

The solution involved developing a twin system, which will mean it can be integrated into a wide range of existing machines without re-design. The mixing process in these configurations requires careful design utilising Eminox’s specialist mixing expertise and CFD evaluation.

The success of the forward-thinking approach to Stage IV and collaborative working relationship built up during the development were the main reasons why Eminox was selected as a development partner for the Stage V solution.

Eminox used its in-house prototyping, testing and development tools for optimising the Stage V solution for Liebherr. These include advanced CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) FEA (Finite Element Analysis) FMEA (Failure Mode Effect Analysis) and NVH (Noise vibration and harshness) analysis.

Volume manufacture of Liebherr’s Stage V solution will begin in 2018.

Mark Runciman, Operations Director for Eminox, said:

“Eminox is continuing to expand its OE business and we are thrilled that Liebherr has continued to trust in our development and manufacturing expertise.”