Fuel efficient road building equipment, with their unique advantages, are now finding their use on large scale in many applications. This article talks about the same and how the present players are trying to make most out of it

 In construction of roads, various road building equipment play a major role. However, owing to increasing operational and maintenance costs, today the need has arisen to use fuel efficient road building equipment on large extent in many applications. However, what exactly do they offer and are they really that much worth?  B2B Purchase analyses the same.

New technologies
There are definitely some benefits of adoption of technology such as improved accuracy in grading, decrease in labour costs and rework significantly, and improvement in operator performance.

In 2011, Volvo Construction Equipment India introduced a new series of compactor in the 10-tonne category segment, soil compactor and double drum asphalt compactor that are equipped with fuel-efficient engines. Around the same time, a need arose for tier 3 engines for all the wheeled equipment.

“When we went for tier 3, we brought in fuel efficient engines for soil compactor and then for double drum compactor too. We have also introduced pavers with fuel
efficient engines,” says A M Muralidharan, President, Volvo Construction Equipment India.
Talking about newly launched products by Case India, Abhijit Gupta, Managing Director, Case India, says, “Recently we launched the brand new EX Series backhoe loaders in India- the 770 EX, 770 EX Magnum and the 851 EX. All three models feature a proven proprietary engine. The fiat engine S8000, which stands out for its fuel efficiency and performance, features an air aftercooler system that increases the density of the intake air, improving efficiency and decreasing fuel consumption. This engine has been delivering better fuel efficiency than expected.”

Fuel savings
Case India believes that much fuel saving is possible with the use of fuel efficient equipment. The new Case EX series backhoe loaders equipped with fiat S8000 engine, deliver the powerful performance and fast response time coupled with a 5 per cent higher productivity and fuel savings of up to 13 per cent.

The new graders feature an FPT Industrial 6.7 litre engine with triple horsepower ranges on the 865B model and dual horsepower on the 845B to match the power requirements of various applications and deliver outstanding fuel efficiency.

The new Case 752 tandem compactor with water cooled engine, results in a substantial temperature reduction, which benefits customers with the engine’s longer life and lower fuel consumption.

Whereas, according to Volvo, who has increased the weight of its machines in order to increase the overall productivity, around 5-7 per cent more fuel saving is achieved than earlier by using these equipment.

Operational efficiency
Now the question arises is that do these fuel efficient road building equipment perform at the cost of operational efficiency? The views are interesting.
“The fuel efficiency of our machines is mainly because of the design of the engines. The engines are designed in a way to give additional power even at lower RPM without compromising on the operational efficiency. We have also changed other connected components like axle systems of hydraulics and transmission among others,” informs Mr Muralidharan.

Wirtgen Group designs its machines to ensure more productivity and less fuel consumption.  According to Ramesh  Palagiri, MD and CEO, Wirtgen India, “Our  new  age  machines  are  designed  so  that  the  lifetime  cost of  the  machine  is  reduced  considerably. New  technological  innovations  are  a  part of  the continuous  improvement  process   for  all  machines  of  the Wirtgen Group.”

Ajay Shankar, Country Manager, Caterpillar India, also assures that operational efficiency doesn’t get affected using fuel efficient equipment. “Fuel efficiency gains come in the form of less possible rework and less time taken to achieve the desired level or road camber. For example, the 2D Cat cross slope system on a motor grader allows an operator to input desired road camber slope, say 2.5 per cent, in the in cab control box which will ensure the blade will maintain that slope automatically based on operators input. By doing this you are effectively reducing the grade checker to check whether they have achieved the desired grade and eliminating possible rework,” says Mr Shankar.

In general, the noise and vibration levels are high in a diesel engine during its operation. These vibrations and noise depends on various parameters. 

“We have used technologies to make sure that we provide the quality product with operational efficiency,” says Mr Gupta. “To minimise the noise level and vibrations, our equipment engines are fitted with turbochargers and perfect fuel injection timing and optimum operating temperatures. All hydraulic components are smooth and low noise components as these are filled with hydraulic oil and the oil will be used as the lubricant during the function.”

As the purpose of the compactor is to produce vibration near the drums for compaction of soil, Case India uses anti-vibration mountings to isolate the vibrations from rest of the machine. To keep the operator in vibration free mode, it has adopted elevated operating platforms, which are separated by secondary anti-vibration pads from the Chassis of the machine.

Apart from making the equipment fuel efficient, Case India has also
worked on improving operator comfort aimed at improving operator’s efficiency.  For both soil compactor as well as tandem compactor, it has isolated the operator cabin from the vibrations which are integral to any compactor to make it more comfortable for operators. 

New fuel efficient equipment
Wirtgen has a variety of fuel efficient equipment under its belt. New generation of  Wirtgen cold milling machines, cold recyclers, Vogele Dash-3 generation of  pavers  and  also  EVO  range of  Kleemann crushers  and  screening  plants  are   some  of  its fuel  efficient  equipment.

Whereas Volvo has products like SD110 – 10-tonne soil compactor and DD100 – double drum 10-tonne asphalt compactor. It also has pavers for paving 5.5 metres width of the road.
Case India claims its Case Motor Grader Model 845 B and Case Model 865 B are one of the most advanced innovative products in their particular segment.

Also Case Construction Equipment has recently launched the brand new EX Series backhoe loaders in India -the 770 EX, 770 EX Magnum and the 851 EX. Case is focusing continuously in developing and adopting new technology. The updated technology being used by Case consumes optimum fuel for the machine`s best productivity.

Caterpillar also offers a complete range of Motor Graders to carry out applications from small road construction and site development through to larger expressway construction up to demanding mining haul road construction and maintenance works.
It is clear that to meet increasing and ever-changing needs of market for various road building applications, it is needed for the companies to consistently come up with their new products. And the picture looks good on
this front.

The fuel efficiency of our machines is mainly because of the design of the engines
– A M Muralidharan, President,
Volvo Construction Equipment India

We have used technologies to make sure that we provide the quality product with operational efficiency
– Abhijit Gupta, MD, Case India

Fuel efficiency gains come in the form of less possible rework and less time taken to achieve the desired level or road camber
– Ajay Shankar, Country Manager, Caterpillar India

Our  new  age  machines  are  designed  so  that  the  lifetime  cost of  the  machine  is  reduced  considerably
– Ramesh  Palagiri, MD and CEO, Wirtgen India