U.S. EPA Air Toxics Grant for Diesel Retrofits for the City of Baltimore

This U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant funded three separate projects: $160,000 for Baltimore City to retrofit 98 load packers with diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) and closed crankcase ventilation filtration (CCVF) systems; $30,000 for Baltimore City to retrofit 23 dump trucks with DOCs and CCVF systems; and $40,000 for Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) to install Clever Devices BusLink Switches on 40 Neoplan transit buses in order to reduce bus idling. These retrofits resulted in annual emissions reductions of: 633.37 tons of CO, 56.97 tons of HC, 2.02 tons of PM, and 159.50 tons of NOx.

Baltimore City Retrofit Demonstration Project

  • The Donaldson Company participated in a retrofit demonstration project for the City of Baltimore load packer trucks. They did not have pre-engineered retrofit kits for the city's fleet of Mack, Freightliner, and Mitsubishi trucks, and worked with city and MDE personnel to develop complete off-the-shelf kits.
  • The demonstration project to retrofit the first three trucks was completed in December 2004. Baltimore City monitored these retrofits for mileage, maintenance, and performance.
  • Based on our experience with these retrofits, MDE worked with Donaldson and Baltimore City to finalize hardware and procedures that were incorporated into Donaldson’s installation kit and literature to help facilitate future retrofit installations.

Baltimore City Load Packer Retrofit Project

  • The City of Baltimore used $160,000 to purchase diesel retrofit devices for 98 load packers (trash haulers), retrofitting their fleet of Mitsubishi, Freightliner and Mack trash haulers with diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) and closed crankcase ventilation filtration (CCVF) systems.
  • The project was completed in November 2006.
  • These retrofits resulted in the following annual emissions reductions: 12.80 tons of CO, 4.29 tons of HC, and 0.12 tons of PM.

Baltimore City Dump Truck Retrofit Project

  • Baltimore City used $30,000 to retrofit 23 dump trucks with DOCs and CCVF systems.
  • The retrofits were completed in November 2006.
  • These retrofits resulted in the following annual emissions reductions: 2.51 tons of CO, 0.84 tons of HC, and 0.03 tons of PM.

Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Idle Reduction Project

  • The MTA used $40,000 to purchase and install Clever Devices BusLink Switches on approximately 40 Neoplan transit buses operating out of their Eastern facility. The MTA’s Eastern maintenance facility (located in east Baltimore City) was chosen for this project because it is located in the designated East Baltimore Environmental Benefits District (EBD) and the agency has partnered with MDE on previous projects to reduce emissions from transit buses at this facility.
  • The Clever Devices BusLink Switches will allow “just-in-time” engine starting and warm-up. Instead of idling the diesel engine to maintain operating temperature, the switches will automatically activate an auxiliary heater, which will heat the coolant in the engine and allow the vehicle to be at operating temperature when the primary diesel engine is started in the morning.
  • A wireless bus communication system was installed at the facility, allowing the MTA to remotely operate and communicate with the Clever device. MTA provided the funding for this communication system.
  • MTA completed the installation of the 40 Clever Devices BusLink Switches in the first quarter of 2006.
  • Annual diesel fuel displacement is estimated to be 121,519 gallons.
  • These retrofits resulted in the following annual emissions reductions: 39.76 tons of CO, 3.34 tons of HC, 0.12 tons of PM, and 10.26 tons of NOx.
  • Based on these successes, MTA expanded this program throughout its entire fleet.

For further information, contact Tim Shepherd at (410)537-3270 or email tim.shepherd@maryland.gov.

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