Ashok Leyland develops hythane engines

Ashok Leyland has successfully developed, in association with Eden Energy of Australia, a 6-cylinder, 6-litre 92 kW BS-4 engine for operation with hythane. Hythane is a blend of natural gas and hydrogen (usually 20 per cent hydrogen by volume). Addition of hydrogen, a renewable fuel, improves efficiency while retaining the low emission characteristics of CNG.

Concurrently, a 4-cylinder 4-litre 63 KW engine is being developed for H-CNG blend in a joint R&D programme with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Indian Oil Corporation.

Application of these engines to buses is at an advanced stage at Ashok Leyland, which is also in discussion with Government agencies regarding making hythane available for commercial use in the future.

It may be recalled that Ashok Leyland pioneered the use of CNG fuel for mass transportation in the country by rolling out India’s first CNG bus in Mumbai in 1997. Today, over 5,500 Ashok Leyland CNG buses ply on the roads of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vijayawada and Mumbai, as also in certain overseas markets.

Another significant development by the company was India’s first multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) for high capacity CNG engine in 2008.

Piaggio to invest Euro 60 million in engine plant

Mr. Vilasrao Dashmukh, Maharashtra Chief Minister, met Mr. Roberto Colaninno, Piaggio Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, in Rome during his recent visit to Italy with a Maharashtra Government delegation from Mumbai.

The Piaggio Group has been having its operations in Maharashtra since last 10 years, primarily for production and marketing of three- and four-wheel commercial vehicles. Piaggio Vehicles Private Ltd. (PVPL), an Indian company wholly owned by Piaggio, produced approximately 155,000 vehicles in 2007 with revenues of Euro 238 million. In the first six months of 2008, PVPL shipped 81,300 vehicles, an increase of 10.7 per cent over the first half of 2007, bringing in revenues totalling Euro 122.6 million, representing an increase of 10.2 per cent. The company is currently the market leader in the three-wheeled commercial vehicle segment in India.

At the Rome meeting, Mr. Azeez M. Khan, Principal Secretary (Industry) of Maharashtra, and Mr. Ravi Chopra, PVPL Chairman and Managing Director, signed a joint memorandum confirming Piaggio’s plan of implementing a major industrial project in Maharashtra as part of its strategy for growth in India and Asia. The proposed factory in Maharashtra to manufacture engines for the company’s commercial vehicles, which involves an investment of Euro 60 million, is scheduled to begin production in 2010.

Maruti Suzuki’s KB engine plant starts commercial production

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. has just opened its next-generation KB-series engine plant at Gurgaon. The new series engine is yet another significant initiative by the company towards offering the latest technology to its customers.

Inaugurating the plant, Mr. Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director, Maruti Suzuki, said: “We are happy to introduce a brand new family of petrol engines for our customers. Maruti Suzuki is the first company to introduce fuel-efficient vehicles in India way back in 1983 and has continuously improved the technologies over the years. Like all Maruti Suzuki technology, this new engine is highly fuel efficient, while offering the best in refinement and performance. It will take the engine technology to the next level in India. The new engine series is also an important step towards attaining the target sales of a million units in the domestic market by 2010-11. The operational capacities of our plants have reached the million mark.”

The KB series engine will be mounted on the forthcoming model, A Star, from Maruti Suzuki. The 998cc engine has been carefully designed to be environment friendly and fuel efficient with its light weight construction and innovative technologies to improve combustion and minimise friction. The smart distributor less ignition (SDLI) system with dedicated plug top coils, high pressure semi-return fuel system and advanced injectors for superior atomization provide uniform and optimized combustion for better performance.

After A Star, the all-new, light-weight engine series will be progressively introduced on other models as well over a period of next 3-5 years. The new engine will also power the export version of the A Star. The company plans to commence exports of this model from early 2009.

The KB-series engine, while fully complying with the prevalent BS III norms, is ready to meet the future emission norms in the country. It meets the Euro V norms for the export model of A Star. The plant has an installed annual capacity of 240,000 engines.

The new engine will be manufactured in the state-of the-art, fully integrated manufacturing facility within the Gurgaon plant. Spread over an area of 20,300 m2, the plant is part of the Rs. 9,000-crore investment plan drawn by Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Corporation.

The in-line plant layout consisting of casting, machining and assembly processes has a high level of automation, effective material handling and inventory reduction techniques in place, aimed for high operational efficiency. It employs global manufacturing best practices like cold testing and 100 per cent online automated checks to ensure global quality.

Cummins bags DTC order for 3,125 CNG engines

Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI), a leading provider of high-performance alternative fuel engines for the global market, and Cummins India Ltd. (CIL) have announced that the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has placed an order for 3,125 natural gas buses equipped with CWI’s B Gas Plus engines. The 230 hp B Gas Plus engines, powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), are licensed by CWI and manufactured by CIL.

“We are delighted that DTC, already one of the world’s leading eco-friendly transit fleets, has selected CWI in their continuing contribution towards cleaning up the environment of the nation’s capital in India. This order of over 3,000 engines, our single largest to date, highlights both the quality of our products and our efforts to make our clean burning, natural gas engines available around the world,” said Guan Saw, CWI’s President. “Our natural gas engines provide significant benefits to consumers facing global concerns around energy security and high fuel prices. The economic benefits are equally matched by the positive environmental benefits by reducing harmful emissions such as particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx).”

“We are excited about providing dependable, fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly solutions in India. The B Gas Plus engine is a great example of this,” said Anant Talaulicar, CIL Chairman and Cummins Vice-President.

CIL, headquartered in Pune, is the country’s leading manufacturer of diesel and natural gas engines for power generation, industrial and automotive markets. It is also the largest among Cummins-affiliated companies in India.

According to NGVAmerica, the New Delhi Natural Gas Vehicle Program has halved air pollution over the last 10 years. Approximately 60,000 auto rickshaws in New Delhi were required to convert to CNG for fuel. A decade later, the Government issued a report hailing the success of the program, showing that, while the number of vehicles on the road has doubled, the pollution rate has come down significantly.
Outside of New Delhi, ten other major Indian cities also have aggressive natural gas vehicle conversion programs. As a result, the amount of petroleum used in the country has been cut substantially – a significant and cost-saving achievement for a country that has to import 70 per cent of its diesel and gasoline.

DTC is one of the main public transport operators of Delhi and runs over 3,000 CNG buses on 773 routes throughout the city and the surrounding areas. Delhi operates one of the largest CNG bus fleets in the world. Air quality in the city has improved a lot after the Supreme Court order in 2002 made conversion of the city’s entire bus fleet to cleaner-burning CNG mandatory.

Cummins recommends SCR for Indian market

Introduction of Euro 4 emission norms for commercial vehicles by 2010 in all the major metros is on cards, and by 2015 the Government is expected to come with one common emission norm countrywide, which will be Euro 5.

As you move into Euro 4, high pressure Common Rail fuel injection is clearly required. In addition you have two options – you could either use exhaust gas recirculation (technically known as EGR) combined with a partial flow filter, or you can use a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) after treatment alone.

Globally engine and vehicle manufacturers have different views and their own reasons to choose a particular technology. There are views for and against the two technologies. In Europe, over 70 per cent of production uses SCR after treatment. EGR is self-contained with no operator intervention, whereas SCR requires ‘Ad blue’ (32 per cent aqueous solution of urea).

Mr. Arun Ramachandran Vice President (Automotive Business), Cummins India, says: “Cummins has both EGR based engines and SCR based engine in production globally. We have spent close to a year looking at which technology is better suited for Indian conditions and we believe that in the Indian context SCR is a better solution. We propose that for meeting Euro 4 emission norms on commercial vehicles, SCR is selected”.

Cummins will meet the Euro 4 emission legislations with Integrated Engine Management (IEM) system using SCR technology. The system is controlled and monitored from the engine mounted ECM, providing a more reliable, cost effective easier to install the system. The IEM strategy was first formed around the ability to provide a total solution of engines, air handling and exhaust systems all under the Cummins Umbrella. By working with Holset turbocharging and Fleetguard Emission solutions, Cummins is in a unique position to provide a complete engine to exhaust pipe package.

“In fact, globally Cummins has demonstrated that the advantages of using SCR technology. The classic example is the London bus where it demonstrated that by using SCR the engine produces the same level of particulate emissions as an engine with continuously regenerating trap (CRT) and gives 10 to 20% improved fuel efficiency. The improved fuel efficiency means lower cost to the operator as well as lesser CO2 emissions leading to lower global warming impact. That is one of the reasons why we feel in the Indian context SCR is a better choice”, adds Mr. Arun.

Cummins currently offers a complete range of engines, from light and medium duty trucks to heavy duty trucks and buses, to OEMs engine for various applications and different product segments. Cummins – Automotive Engines business started in India through a joint venture with Tata Motors, Tata Cummins Ltd. From being a primary supplier to Tata Motors, Cummins has now started supplying to many OEMs including Ashok Leyland, AMW, Eicher Motors and bus manufacturers like Sutlej and Cerita.

Currently, Cummins caters to 60 per cent of Tata Motors’ heavy commercial vehicle range and 100 per cent of AMW’s trucks. At Auto Expo this year, Ashok leyland had on display its heavy duty trucks with Cummins 8.9 litre.

For Cummins India, the automotive sector presents a huge opportunity. It is planning to set up its own automotive engine manufacturing line for the L, the C Series and the new 5.9-litre B Series engines. The C Series is an 8.3 litre engine while the 8.9-litre L Series is under development. The B series – Euro 2 and Euro 3 engines are almost 90 per cent indigenized.

The year 2007 proved a good for Cummins. The demand for Cummins engines has been more than what we sold every quarter despite the downturn in the CV segment during the current financial year. Says Mr. Arun: “The major achievement during the current year has been the introduction of mechanical fuel injection systems in Euro 3 engine which we have sold over 1000 units. These engines are performing very well and trouble free. Cummins has done particularly well in the bus segment. The DTC order won by Tata Motors for 500 low floor non air-conditioned buses and the 25 air conditioned buses are on Cummins B series engines. You will probably see more bus manufacturers offering our engines on their buses”.

Cummins is also focussing on smaller engines suitable for medium and light commercial vehicle segment. We are predominantly known as an engine supplier for heavy commercial vehicles and buses but we have product range to suit even medium duty segment. Hence we would like to de-risk ourselves by focussing on medium duty segment in the future.

As a group Cummins is expanding its operations in India. The company recently laid the foundation for a 150-acre mega site at Phaltan, near Pune, where all the affiliated companies will be setting up their future manufacturing facilities. This approach and investment will offer significant synergy to the Cummins group companies in India.

Cummins also opened two manufacturing facilities in January. One facility to produce power generators upto 160 kVA at Pirangut near Pune, and a second facility to produce alternators by Cummins Generator Technologies in Ranjangaon. In addition, CumminsTurbo Technologies performed the ground breaking ceremony of a new turbocharger plant at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh in December. Cummins remains optimistic about the future outlook of its business in India.

Mr. Anant Talaulicar, Chairman & Managing Director of Cummins India recently announced: “Tata Cummins will establish a manufacturing facility in Phaltan, near Pune with a capacity to manufacture 45,000 automotive engines per annum. Through this plant engines will be supplied to both parent companies, Cummins India and Tata Motors. Tata Motors will use the B Series engines for automotive applications while we will use them for automotive, industrial and power generation”.

Cummins is also planning to set up a manufacturing facility for exhaust systems, under Cummins Exhaust India, formerly Nelson India, which will have the capacity to manufacture about two lakh silencers and three lakh tubes.

As technology advances and emission regulations become tighter, it is impossible for vehicle manufacturers to produce all the components in-house. Automotive Engines are high investment, high technology product and many Indian vehicle manufacturers, despite huge investments in engine manufacturing, are looking for better solutions as they upgrade their products.

Cummins has the capability to provide complete solution and going forward it will play an important role in the commercial vehicle industry by offering the Indian OEMs the right solution.