HJS Emission Technology, a German manufacturer and innovator of emission control equipment has been present in the Indian market since 2008. Mr. Peter Neumann, Director Sales – Indian Projects, HJS Emission Technology, who has been involved in the company’s India operations since the very beginning, gives his take on the BS-VI mission.
Excerpts:
Market impact
The industry is forced to develop a much more complex exhaust after treatment which fulfills the BS-VI boundary conditions. The individual companies need to build up the know-how of the individual components such as DOC, DPF, SCR and OBD as well as the correlation between the components. Besides the technical features of the exhaust aftertreatment systems it will get more important to interact much closer with the engine and vehicle manufacturers.
HJS is well prepared to serve the market with components and complete SCRT systems incl. OBD, which are required to fulfill the BS-VI requirements. HJS can provide a turnkey system from the first design up to series production.
Cost implications
Yes, the costs for BS-VI vehicles will increase. However, as most vehicles will be equipped with new, more economical engines, the cost of diesel will be reduced over their service life. This will reduce the total cost of ownership for the fleet operators.
Challenges
The SCRT technology planned for BS-VI has already been successfully introduced in Europe, the US and Japan. The complete infrastructure for Adblue was setup prior product introduction and is available today. However, it is the first time in India that such a complex exhaust technology has been introduced to such a diverse market. India’s boundary conditions for such a technology in comparison to the mentioned regions are different. It should also be remembered that the BS-V legislation was skipped and therefore no learning effects were created.
We would like to raise one topic as an example. The particulate filter as part of the overall system collects and burns soot. Only the ash remains in the filter. Over time the ash will accumulate and the filters have to be cleaned. Until today there is no concept from the vehicle manufacturers where and how these filters will be cleaned. The whole situation could get worse due to the fact that the necessity of using low-ash lubricants is not taken into account as the price difference between a standard oil and a low ash oil is significant. Most vehicle owners will use standard, ash rich oil after the warranty period, which will reduce cleaning interval drastically.
HJS offers a filter (Sintered Metal Filter) which can accumulate much more ash and thus extends the cleaning intervals. Additionally, the SMF can easily be cleaned at each dealer shop.
We will see adjustments in the product itself as well as in the handling and service of the product after introduction which are the result to the typical Indian boundary conditions.
Opportunities
The change to BS-VI will result in sustainable clean mobility. This is especially important for a rapidly growing Indian industry. Furthermore, manufacturers now have the BS-VI technology in their hands that will allow them to export vehicles to regions that were previously excluded.
Outlook
HJS as one of the suppliers to the CV sector in India saw a disappointing first half of 2019. Although we see a recovery and a better order situation in the second half, unfortunately we do not see the number of units that could compensate for the first half. To what extent the increase in the second half of the year is based on the pre-buy effect cannot be assessed so far.