Caterpillar’s long-standing commitment to sustainability and support for customers during the energy transition to a lower-carbon future means its industrial engines have for many years been capable of running on a range of renewable and alternative fuels.
The Cat C-Series engines supplied to Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screeners to power its mining and construction equipment can run on renewable and alternative fuels including hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) certified to EN15940 or ASTM D975.
Sandvik has successfully completed testing on its range of machines to confirm that they can operate with HVO without modifications to either the engines or the fuel tanks. This helps Sandvik and its customers to reduce the net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 90% compared with conventional diesel.
Sandvik supplies large volumes of mobile crushing and screening equipment that can contribute to CO2 emissions when using traditional diesel fuel. To make the shift toward a more sustainable business, Sandvik Mobiles decided to invest in HVO as a renewable fuel and turned to Cat dealer Finning UK and Ireland to supply compatible engines.
HVO is a form of renewable synthetic diesel, produced from certified waste fats and oils through hydro-processing. Its performance is similar to regular diesel, but it reduces the carbon footprint associated with operating the engine and can lower nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) under certain conditions. Its chemical similarity to diesel means that the machine’s power output and uptime are not compromised when introducing HVO as an alternative, and it can also be blended with diesel.
“We are focused on developing our products and services to help our customers transition to a low-carbon economy and fulfill our company’s purpose to help build and power a better and more sustainable world,” commented Steve Ferguson, vice president Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems.
“Our Cat dealer Finning offered its expertise throughout the project, sharing its extensive knowledge on engines and fuels to provide Sandvik with all the information it needed,” continued Ferguson. “Our Cat C-Series engines give customers the flexibility to use HVO as both a replacement and addition to their conventional diesel fuel, depending on their requirements.”
Jesper Persson, vice president of life cycle services at Sandvik Mobiles added, “We are committed to using engineering and innovation through all our operations to make the shift towards more sustainable business. With a host of innovations in the pipeline, including electrification of our offering, we are excited to be pioneers in the industry and invest in renewable fuel sources and sustainable rock processing solutions.
“Working alongside Finning to performance engineer the feasibility of HVO, means we can data collect and monitor any impact on the performance and output of both new and existing machinery. It’s an exciting step in our contribution to sustainability and we will work together with our customers and suppliers for more productive, safer and innovative solutions.”
(Fuels must meet the specifications and characteristics described on cat.com in order to be used in Cat engines and reduce the risk of downtime.}