Growing Together: Wabtec Marine Engines and the U.S. Dredging Industry

By Patrick Webb, Marine & Stationary Engine Sales Director, Wabtec Corporation

Wabtec Marine Diesel Engines

According to a January 2021 Marine News article, “The Burgeoning U.S. Dredging Fleet,” a raft of new dredging vessels are being designed and built to keep America's ports and seaways open, deep, and safe. This effort also promotes the critical utilization of maritime transportation and shipping within, to, and from America’s port cities.

Wabtec Marine Diesel Engines

Many new projects are lining up across a host of U.S. shipyards with building orders for large Hopper Dredges, Trailing Head Suction Dredges, and Cutter Suction Dredges, as well as a number of mechanical and hydraulic dredges for various water-way management solutions.

With record growth of more than $1 billion in new equipment orders expected through 2023, the owners of these companies are facing a number of pressing challenges, including:

  • Heavy regulatory controls on the environment, emissions, pollutants, dredge spoil management, and maritime operations.

  • Replacement pressures brought on by aging and retiring workforces and equipment.

  • Growing local community oversight of exhaust opacity and noise controls, creating a new tide in proactive company self-regulation to stay in front of the issue.

  • Steep, well-funded competition driving the trend toward larger, more efficient equipment to improve operational profitability and stakeholder satisfaction.

  • Remote dredging locations creating additional new logistical and operational challenges.

Regulation is adding even more complexity to this already challenging business environment. Since January 2017, the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has mandated a new emissions control standard referred to as EPA Tier 4. This regulatory standard requires the significant reduction – as high as 90% – of CO, NOx, HC, particulate matter (PM), sulfur, and other harmful components of engine exhaust, causing many dredging companies to seek out and adopt new best practices.

Traditionally, the approach for lowering NOx emissions in exhaust is through a technology referred to as SCR after-treatment. In the SCR after-treatment process, exhaust gas is mixed with a urea solution (also referred to as DEF) and funneled through a reactor box which contains a special ceramic material (catalyst). With the right amount of urea and enough heat, a series of chemical reactions occur, causing the urea and NOx to be converted to CO2, N2 and H2O, so that EPA Tier 4 emissions standards are met. Yet this approach has many downsides. The equipment to handle urea is expensive; storage takes up significant space; the logistics are cumbersome; and the cost of DEF (as a new consumable) is very high.

Not many companies have been able to find a solution to these challenges. Wabtec Marine Diesel Engines (formerly known as GE Transportation Engines), however, has cracked the code. After 10 years and over $500 million in research and development, Wabtec has produced and proven the leading alternative technology. How did we do it? The stringent Tier 4 emissions standard is achieved through an advanced Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) technology. By combining high-pressure fuel injection, high-pressure combustion air, cooled exhaust gas recirculation, and precise combustion and overall system controls, the exhaust meets the Tier 4 emissions standard without needing an SCR after-treatment. No urea. No kidding.

Wabtec Marine Diesel Engines

The Wabtec solution delivers cleaner exhaust without requiring any additional logistics, operating, or maintenance costs, and the engines run more quietly with virtually no opacity (to the benefit of local communities).

Today, Wabtec Corporation is the U.S. market leader in both Heavy Haul Rail and Medium Speed Marine Power with a revolutionary approach to meeting Tier 4 emissions standards. Dredging companies, led by Weeks Marine, Great Lakes Dock & Dredge, Manson Construction, Callan Marine, Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel, and many others yet to build, are finding a true “power partner” in Wabtec Marine, one with the innovation, agility, and expertise to help them overcome their biggest challenges while continuing to compete effectively and grow their fleets and businesses during this transformational time in the dredging industry.

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