The Importance Of Air Intake Systems
Modern mining trucks are impressively enormous vehicles capable of literally moving mountains. A typical haul truck might stand three stories tall and, fully loaded, weigh more than 500 metric tonnes. Many mining companies are currently implementing decarbonization plans that involve replacing diesel fleets with battery electric or green hydrogen vehicles. At the moment, however, the global mining industry is powered primarily by diesel-fuelled internal combustion engines.
It is estimated, in fact, that the mining sector is presently utilizing seven billion dollars worth of diesel-powered equipment. And each of these pieces of equipment needs an air intake system to keep its engine performing at peak efficiency. If a mobile asset’s diesel air intake system isn’t functioning as it should, a variety of issues can occur. These issues include a reduction in power, slower acceleration, and increased fuel consumption. In today’s piece, we’ll talk about the air intake systems that serve diesel-powered mining truck engines.
Features Of Diesel Air Intake Systems
The engines of diesel-fuelled mining trucks require air to operate and, as a general rule, this air enters the system through an external duct. It then passes through a filter and ultimately arrives at the engine itself. Donaldson is a leader in the filtration industry and many of the diesel air intake systems manufactured by DBA Silencing end up working hand in hand with Donaldson units in the field. These air intake systems are typically a collection of pipes that move air from the filtration device to the engine’s turbochargers.
Turbochargers supply additional air to an engine’s combustion chamber. The more air present, the more fuel can be burned. Turbochargers improve performance in a variety of ways; they can ramp up horsepower, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce emissions. {Of course, turbochargers have drawbacks as well. They get extremely hot and can act as ignition sources for truck fires. DBA Silencing actually specializes in preventing these sorts of blazes, and you can read more about that in our blog post entitled “DBA & Mining Haul Truck Safety“.}
So, as mentioned, turbochargers provide extra air. It’s critical that this air, and all the air taken in by a diesel engine, is as clean as it can possibly be. This is often difficult, as mining trucks frequently contend with environmental challenges such as billowing clouds of dust. It is for this reason that contemporary diesel air intake systems are carefully-designed assemblies that help keep combustion air free of contaminants even in off-road and grit-rich situations.
As mentioned above, any particle that finds its way into a diesel engine can inflict damage once inside. In fact, even a tiny handful of dirt can impair an engine to the point that a rebuild is required. Engines compromised in this way are said to have been “dusted”, and some diesel air intake systems use accessories called pre-cleaners to avoid this. Pre-cleaners are meant to make things easier on the filter by screening out larger dirt fragments and water droplets early on.
We noted above that diesel air intake systems are usually configurations of tubes. These tubes are linked by rubber hump hoses, and these connector components are ordinarily attached with hose clamps. We offer both hump hoses and hose clamps at DBA, and you can learn more about these two items by perusing an article we wrote called “Hump Hoses Are No Joke“.
Diesel Air Intake Systems From DBA
DBA Silencing is probably best known for mufflers and exhaust systems. The composite shell technology we apply to our exhaust pipes is unique, useful, and cost-effective. We do also have coolant systems, however, as well as air intake systems for diesel engines which – as you’ll have gathered by now – we’re calling diesel air intake systems in this piece.
Now, we detailed the advantages of DBA air parts in an article entitled “3 Reasons To Use DBA Air Intake Systems On Your Mining Trucks“. We won’t cover that terrain a second time, except to say that many customers choose DBA’s diesel engine air intake system components because they’re durable, affordable, and easy to install. If you have specific questions about the ways that our aftermarket air intake kits differ from their OEM counterparts, we’d be happy to take your call at 1-800-661-5886.
In truth, nothing would please us more than to chat with you about topics such as hump hoses, clamps, and air intake and exhaust systems for diesel engines. Seriously. We live for these kinds of conversations. We’re nerdy that way. We’re also delighted to receive emails at info@dbasilencing.ca. Oh, and you can find all sorts of excellent information on our website and in our catalogue. That concludes this blog post on air intake, so you can now breathe easy.