Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/335762
July 2014 | EquipmentWorld.com 32 T here's a direct correla- tion between power and fuel consumption; more power requires more fuel. Higher injection pressures, careful design of the piston and combustion chamber, turbocharging and other mechanical ploys improve combustion effi - ciency and help ensure maximum power is extracted from each unit of fuel, but they don't change the fundamentals. More power still requires more fuel. But mid-size dozers' duty cycles vary considerably as do their power requirements. If the dozer is always producing the same power, it's always using the same volume of fuel. If you reduce power during less demanding applications, you'll reduce fuel consumption. The trick is to reduce power with no loss of performance. Electronics make this possible. A reduced-power Eco mode – a term common among several manu- facturers – reduces engine speed from, for example, 2,000 rpms down to 1,800 rpms. And while electronics are controlling the en- gine speed, they're also controlling and balancing it with the hydraulic system. Need full power? You've got it. After the demand is met, though, the system returns back to Eco mode. Location, location, location GNSS, or Global Navigation Satel- lite System, has been making steady inroads into machine performance. machine matters | by Richard Ries ELECTRONICS, EMISSIONS REDEFINE MID-SIZE DOZERS