Ceramic Wall Flow Filter Commercialisation

The purpose of the project was to develop a commercially available approved diesel particulate filter (DPF) for widespread use in underground coal mines.

This project builds on work undertaken in projects C25073 and C26070. An industrialised filter was developed under C26070 and requires the following to be commercially available:

• Technical refinements to allow retrofit to existing Diesel Engine Systems;
• Testing against certification and regulatory requirements - emissions and Exprotection.

PPKME acquired the Intellectual Property of the filter from Orbital and has undertaken a review of the enclosure and mounting arrangement, including 3D modelling and manufacturing drawings. A revised design was developed to allow for access to engine components and easier replacement of the filter.

The original filter element as tested under C26070 is no longer available, so an alternative filter element was sourced. Dynamometer testing was conducted to assess the functionality of the filter and its emissions performance. This work has now been completed, with test results which indicated comparable performance to the original filter.

A review of New South Wales and Queensland regulatory and certification requirements was conducted. An electronic monitoring system was developed to monitor filter condition and control shutdown in the event of an unsafe condition.

Type testing was carried out of the whole engine system with the wall flow filter fitted, including:

• Operation of the engine and emergency shutdown systems;
• Type testing to NSW Mining Design Guideline 43;
• Type testing to AS/NZS 3584.2:2008;
• Exhaust emissions are within specified limits of type testing.

The type test reports were reviewed by a competent third party and a gap analysis was conducted against the AS 3584.2:2021 standard. The verifier also examined the hazard assessments provided by PPKME and provided a verification report to confirm compliance with the nominated standard.

All documentation was submitted to the NSW Regulator for alteration of Registration of Plant for the Coaltec Pty Ltd 154kW Caterpillar electronically controlled Explosion-Protected diesel engine system.