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Retrofit Success Stories
"We are focused first on cleaning up the oldest buses that will remain in fleets for a long time. As school districts experience success with that, we are seeing great interest in particulate traps and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. We are getting great public support for this program."
- Dennis McLerran, Executive Officer of the The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
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School Buses
School Bus Retrofit Program (Seattle, WA)
Krapf Bus Companies Clean School Bus Pilot Program
Fleetguard Emission Solutions Donated to Indiana School District
New Haven School Bus Retrofit Program
School Bus Retrofit Program (Seattle, WA)
Project Name:
Clean School Bus Retrofit Program
Project Location:
Seattle, WA
Project Description:
This is the nation's first state-funded voluntary school bus retrofit program made possible through funding approved by the 2003 Washington State Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gary Locke. Retrofit projects are under way, with about 5,000 buses to be retrofitted over the next five years. The focus of the program is on reducing fine particulate and air toxic emissions.
ESSB 6072, which was promoted by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, provided about $5 million statewide in its first fiscal year, primarily to begin installing retrofit emission controls on existing diesel school buses. The program initially focused on installing diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) on pre-1998 model buses. Ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel is available from two different refiners in the region for less than five cents per gallon over EPA diesel. The program is now beginning installation of diesel particulate filters and closed crankcase ventilation filters. The Agency is offering turnkey grants to cover retrofit hardware as well as part of the price differential for ULSD.
The Legislature has committed to continuing this level of funding for five years to clean up about 5,000 of the approximate 9,000 school buses in the state. The program will reach all areas of the state, leveraging additional federal funding in the hope of reaching nearly all school buses and school children in the state.
The school bus retrofit program is being managed through a partnership that includes the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and other local agencies across the state - Northwest Air Pollution Authority, Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, Southwest Region Clean Air Agency, Yakima Regional Clean Air Authority, Benton Clean Air Authority and Spokane County Air Pollution Control Agency. Click here for links to each of these agencies.
School districts interested in participating in the retrofit program are asked to fill out an application that summarizes their fleet mix and helps air agencies determine which types of retrofit devices will be most appropriate.
Project Contact:
Dave Kircher
Air Resources Manager
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish Counties)
206.689.4050
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Krapf Bus Companies Clean School Bus Pilot Program
Project Name:
Krapf Bus Companies Clean School Bus Pilot Program
Private Fleet Owners Successfully Receive Funding
Project Location:
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Project Description:
Krapf School Bus Companies, one of the nation's top 20 private school bus contractors, is committed to their community and has committed to retrofitting their entire fleet of over 700 school buses. In Spring 2004, Krapf partnered with the West Chester Area School District and was awarded both federal and regional government funds to start their pilot program to retrofit 16 buses. Moreover, Krapf Bus Companies self-funded the incremental costs of ultra low sulfur fuel, and equipped an additional four (4) buses with Johnson Matthey CRT® filter systems for use in the Great Valley School District. Krapf also intends that all new bus purchases will include particulate filters as part of the standard offering.
Funding:
EPA Clean School Bus Funding was dispersed by the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) to several private school bus contractors who partnered with a public sponsor like Krapf Bus Company and West Chester Area School District. Krapf also applied and was awarded additional funding from the Philadelphia Diesel Difference, a coalition of local diverse stakeholders whose primary purpose is to reduce the air pollutants associated with diesel-powered engines through voluntary programs in the greater Philadelphia area.
Emissions Reduction Strategies:
The technology being installed on Krapf school buses is the patented CRT® Particulate Filter manufactured by Johnson Matthey, a leader in the clean diesel technology industry and, located in nearby Malvern, Pennsylvania. The CRT filter replaces the school bus mufflers and reduces Particulate Matter (PM), hydrocarbons (HC's), and Carbon Monoxide (CO) by greater than 90%. The CRT filter was the first filter verified by the EPA. For any of Krapf's colder running buses, Krapf could use Johnson Matthey's CCRT®, officially verified by EPA in July 2004 and runs on temperatures 50° lower than the CRT, handling outlet exhaust temperatures averaging 210ºC.
The CRT and CCRT filters are "passive devices," meaning that the heat in the exhaust makes them work. The filters will require maintenance every 60,000 to 100,000 miles of operation, but other than that are "fit-and-forget". The technology requires the use of ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) with sulfur levels less than 50ppm.
Emissions Benefits:
The CRT filter replaces the school bus mufflers and reduces Particulate Matter (PM), hydrocarbons (HC's), and Carbon Monoxide (CO) greater than 90%. Tests have shown that emissions from school buses with Johnson Matthey filters installed are cleaner than the air we breathe.
Project Contact:
Urszula Miezio
610.341.3435
mieziub@jmusa.com
Fleetguard Emission Solutions Donated to Indiana School District
Project Name:
Fleetguard Emission Solutions Donated to Indiana School District
Project Location:
Columbus, Indiana
Project Description:
The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC) initiative in Columbus, Indiana is Fleetguard's first donation as part of the Clean School Bus USA program. Fleetguard Emission Solutions™ installed diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) to reduce emissions on a number of BCSC's more than 100 school buses. The DOC mufflers are designed with a catalyst inside to be retrofitted into the space of the old muffler, and installation typically takes an hour or less.
Emissions Reduction Strategies:
As part of the Clean School Bus USA program, Fleetguard Emissions Solutions™ BCSC initiative is aimed at curbing the amount of emissions created by diesel school buses - vehicles that drive 24 million children to school each day nationwide. Retrofitting buses in existing school bus fleets with better emission control technologies and using advanced clean diesel fuels is just one of several notable steps being taken by Fleetguard and other industry partners to meet this challenge.
Emissions Benefits:
The introduction of these retrofitting technologies will be a major benefit for students and will demonstrate to other school districts the benefits of clean retrofit technology for school buses. The Fleetguard Emission Solutions™ catalysts, which were installed at BCSC in August 2004, work by oxidizing pollutants in the air, including carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC). DOCs oxidize CO and HC to carbon dioxide and water, reducing CO and HC up to 50 percent. These DOCs are expected to reduce particulate matter by approximately 20-50 percent.
The DOCs technology is relatively low-cost, is easy to retrofit on existing vehicles, requires no maintenance, and Fleetguard uses a variety of sizes and shapes to fit every application and engine make.
Project Contact:
Jennifer Kain Henderson
Retrofit Sales and Marketing Manager East
Fleetguard Emission Solutions
(812) 377-3132
jennifer.kain.henderson@fleetguard.com
New Haven School Bus Retrofit Program
The State of Connecticut, along with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP), has long been concerned about the effect of diesel emissions from school buses on children. In Connecticut, 387,000 children ride more than 6,000 school buses statewide each day, with nearly all the buses operating on diesel fuel. Studies show Connecticut children spend between 20 minutes to several hours each day traveling on these predominantly diesel-powered buses, leading CT DEP to embark on a campaign to ultimately retrofit all of Connecticut’s school buses. A significant landmark of the plan was the completion of the Norwich, Connecticut School Bus Retrofit Project in 2004. This was followed by the New Haven School Bus Project, which took advantage of local SEP funding that was specifically earmarked to pursue school bus retrofits in the City of New Haven.
Initially, the project participants were eager to install passive diesel particulate filters (DPFs) because of their high PM-removal performance. Early in the control technology selection process however, it was decided to switch to a simultaneous deployment of diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) and closed crankcase ventilations (CCVs) due to the lack of sustainable high temperatures for PM regeneration, the desire to focus specifically on emissions reductions in the bus, and the higher cost of DPFs, which would have limited the number of buses to be retrofitted. By equipping the entire fleet with CCVs and DOCs, all the buses and their pupils benefit from reduced emissions. Furthermore, the amount of The Q-Bridge project started in 2002 and will continue for approximately 12 years, with completion slated for 2014. To date, over 105 pieces of off-road construction equipment used over the 7.2-mile site have been retrofitted with DOCs, with no reported operational or warranty problems. PM reduced with the combination of CCVs and DOCs was the same as if DPFs had been installed on one-half the buses (approximately 1/5 ton of PM emissions per year).
Installation of the control technologies began in 2004 and was completed in 2006. Altogether 181 buses were retrofitted with CCVs and DOCs and have performed flawlessly, providing critical emissions reductions for both the community at large and for the students riding the buses. The retrofit program has been augmented with a strictly enforced anti-idling program, as well as extensive community outreach and education highlighting the success of the program. Two other school bus retrofit programs in the Connecticut cities of Hartford and Bridgeport are planned, using $1 million total SEP funding from another source.
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