The ENERAC Model 500 is a low-cost easy to use (no technical expertise needed, etc) portable compliance-level combustion efficiency emissions analyser. It will be on display on the company’s booth at MINExpo. Among the key benefits Enerac claims for the Model 500 is the ability to optimise diesel fleet maintenance programs, collecting data to track fleet history, meeting emissions compliance requirements, reducing fuel consumption and emissions and increasing engine efficiency.

ENERAC reports one user saying “I had been in underground coal mining for 20 years as a diesel mechanic. As with most people in underground coal mining, Skyline mine was concerned with diesel emissions. MSHA made the mining industry take some action. At Skyline mine I was given the responsibility of diesel emissions. The first step in complying with the new law was to find an instrument to do the testing. MSHA required us to only check CO. We looked at all the available equipment on the market and decided to go with Enerac. The first week (in late 1997) the fleet average for Carbon Monoxide was 1,597 ppm and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) was 947 ppm. According to MSHA these emissions levels were legal at the time, but according to our management group we could do better. The last week I was at Skyline our numbers were a little different then the first week (in 1997). CO was 146 ppm and NOx 453 ppm. By using the Enerac Model 400 & 500 we now had a display of all the gasses and could now see how they all interacted.

“By using this information we could adjust the engines to get the best emissions possible. Some of the byproducts of this research was reducing fuel consumption by 35%, increasing engine life, and most importantly giving everyone at Skyline a healthier environment. The Enerac Model 400 & 500 have a feature, that in my opinion makes it the best one on the market, and that is timed storage. With this feature I am able to put it on a vehicle and monitor it through out its normal duty cycle. By doing this I can make adjustments to the 240 t haul truck to reduce their fuel consumption by 15%. That adds up to, in just one mine, a savings of 1,000,000 gallons per year with no loss of power or speed. In some cases the trucks actually speed up.”