As a California fuel and lubricant supplier, we’ve worked with various customers over the years. Many of our customers operate heavy machinery that has specific oil and lubricant needs. We’re proud to support customers in the agricultural, construction, and other industries who use this type of equipment. As distributors, we offer diesel wholesale, wholesale lubricants, and bulk fuel purchases for our customers’ needs.
Many of our customers that operate heavy equipment have particular lubricant and fuel needs. In the past few years, legislation changes regarding fuel emissions have caused dramatic changes in the world of heavy-duty machinery. The EPA 2010 emissions rules governing on-highway vehicles and Tier 4 Final rules for off-highway equipment were a big turning point in the fight against emissions. These rules specified sharp emission restrictions for heavy-duty machinery. Manufacturers made adjustments to their equipment, especially to the exhaust after-treatment systems or EATS. These systems underwent a significant evolution to reduce emissions. One of the developments that came out of this overhaul was the diesel particulate filter (DPF).
Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) reduce emissions by collecting and storing up to 98% of incombustible particles. The ash and soot collected by the DPF clog up in the filter until the engines initiate a process to burn it off in a process known as a regen. Using high temperatures, this process burns off the soot, which wastes more fuel, decreases fuel economy, and can lead to increased equipment downtime. The soot may burn off, but the ash remains. When the DPF is heavily clogged, it must be removed, cleaned, repaired, or even replaced.
Cleaning the DPF filter is a rigorous job. If the regen cycle did not remove enough particulates, a warning light appears in the dashboard, indicating it’s time to service the filter. The manufacturer will also include a service schedule for when to perform this maintenance. You will need someone who is qualified and possesses the proper equipment to do the job.
To clean a DPF, you first do an airflow test and weigh the components to see how full the filter is. The filter must then be cleaned with air pressure and then checked with a lightbox to measure the filter’s integrity after cleaning. The filter is then baked in a special oven at 1000ºF for nearly 12 hours before it is cooled down by remote control and run through another flow test. It’s an exhaustive procedure that takes time and is expensive to complete properly.
The increased ash and soot that clog the filter come from the metallic additives present in engine oil and diesel fuel. These elements burn up into ash and soot during the regen cycle. In 2006 the percentage of ash-forming metallic additives was limited to 1%. This limit still outpaced most DPF filters’ lifespan, causing poor engine and fuel performance and leading to costly downtime. How much does this issue cost a business? Here’s a quick breakdown:
A typical clogged Tier 4 Final DPF can:
- Take 2 days of downtime to clean the filter.
- Cost an estimated $4,200 in labor and downtime.
- In a 200 vehicle or equipment fleet, DPF filter maintenance can add up to nearly $200,000/year.
For more information on how a clogged DPF can hurt your business and bottom line, check out this guide from Chevron.
So, what can you do to prevent this problem? It’s not feasible to stop using additives in your equipment to save your DPF filter. Chevron recognized the problem. In a 2019 article for Successful Farming, Shawn Whitacre with Chevron explained that they realized that “engine oil ash build-up in DPFs was a growing problem.” Simply removing the additives wasn’t a solution. As Whiteacre explains, “we depend on metallic additives in the oil to protect engines.” They needed to find a way to preserve the effect the additives in the oil had on the engine while reducing the increased ash and soot from the metallic additives.
Chevron engineers took a leap and designed an engine oil that features additives with low or no ash. Most heavy-duty engine oils are formulated with 1% sulfated ash. Chevron’s formula uses just 0.4%. To develop this formula, Chevron engineers turned to high-quality base oils stocks. The high-quality base oils extend the engine oil’s integrity and help boost fuel economy by up to 2.5% over equipment lifetime. Check out the Delo 600 ADF 10W-30 for your heavy-duty oil needs.
There’s a big difference between heavy-duty machinery like a backhoe, excavator, or dump truck compared to a passenger vehicle. First, these machines represent a significant investment for a business. They require special maintenance, and the work they are used for is crucial to a business’s bottom line. While the average passenger vehicle can easily be replaced every few years, heavy-duty equipment is meant to last for a lot longer. That’s why protecting the engine is so important and why the right engine oil is so crucial.
Maintaining heavy-duty equipment isn’t easy. This machinery is designed to work hard, often in remote locations for long periods of time. You can’t just take it to the shop when it breaks down. We know this, and we’ve worked with many of our clients to ensure that they have the fuel and lubricants they need to keep their machinery running. We offer deliveries to your worksite, as well as bulk fuel and lubricant orders. Our order team is highly skilled at helping our customers find the right products for their equipment and the conditions they work in. We also offer an oil analysis program to pinpoint potential contamination issues and help to prevent equipment downtime. If you are interested in this program, please reach out to us.
The DPF filter problem is just one of the many ways equipment maintenance and issues can hurt your business. We know that times are tough, and we want to make sure that the investment you made for your equipment pays off. That’s why we offer a wide selection of high-quality fuel and lubricant products for your specific needs. We are proud to supply quality products from manufacturers like Chevron.