On one particularly cold morning in Uppsala, Sweden, machine operator Jesper Sundström starts up the crusher at Dalby Maskin site. Despite being far below freezing, the crusher jumps into life and begins to purr – ready for a long day of breaking giant rocks into granulated ore.
The crusher is powered by a Volvo Penta D13 Stage V engine.
“The reliability of the Volvo Penta engine has been unbelievable,” Jesper says. “I have never had any problems starting it up, even at minus 25 degrees; it just works.”
Volvo Penta has been field-testing its engines at the Dalby Maskin crushing site since 2010. Its Stage V engines have proven extremely promising, boasting fuel consumption reductions of up to 5% (versus Stage IV). This not only reduces CO2 output but also the total cost of ownership – yet another step towards building a successful, sustainable business.
“When we changed engines, we cut fuel consumption by 15 litres per hour,” Jesper adds. “We used to have a service interval of 250 hours but now have a 1000-hour interval for oil change. And thanks to lower engine revs and smaller engine displacement, we don’t have to change the air filter that often. That saves us both time and money.”
Tried and tested solution
By testing engines in real-life conditions, Volvo Penta ensures the products meet set demands concerning reliability, durability, performance or other parameters. It field-tests its engines in all types of extreme environments to ensure optimum performance whatever the application, including high altitude, underground, hot climates and cold climates.
“Testing our engines here at Dalby is ideal due to the dusty terrain and rough ambient conditions,” says Tony Funkenberg, field test engineer at Volvo Penta. “The work is tough and demanding – with lots of vibrations – and the engines are running for many hours a day.”
According to Funkenberg, field-testing engines is a win-win situation for both Volvo Penta and the customer.
“We receive immediate feedback on how the engines are performing, and the customer receives ongoing optimization on-site. All the data from field-testing is logged and implemented into future designs,” he says.