Prime Minister Balkenende opens new DAF Engine Test Center

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende officially opened the ‘state-of-the-art’ DAF Engine Test Center in Eindhoven on Wednesday 23rd January. This new engine test facility has 20 advanced test cells and is one of the most modern in the world. “This new test centre is not only important for DAF Trucks, but also for the technology region of South-East Brabant and for the Netherlands as a whole,” said Aad Goudriaan, president of DAF Trucks N.V., who added that with the realization of the new DAF Engine Test Center around 80 additional, high-quality jobs have been created.

With an annual production of more than 50.000 engines, DAF Trucks N.V. belongs to the larger manufacturers of diesel engines for trucks in Europe. “The Engine Test Center will play an important role in the future development of more efficient and cleaner engines, and enable DAF to build on its leading position in engine development,” said Aad Goudriaan, president of DAF Trucks N.V. “The investment of over € 50 million in this ultramodern test center also underlines the importance that our parent company PACCAR attaches to the knowledge and experience that DAF has built up in more than fifty years of engine development and production.” Apart from engines for DAF, the company also develops engines for Peterbilt and Kenworth, the other truck marques of PACCAR.

Future for the diesel engine
In his address, Mr Goudriaan elaborated on the enormous development that the diesel engine has undergone over the decades, among others in the area of emissions. “Increasingly stricter legislation in this area has led to increasingly cleaner engines,” he said. “A modern truck or bus with a Euro 5 engine produces 75% less NOx (nitrogen oxides) and 94% fewer particulates than a Euro 1 engine of ten to fifteen years ago. And the future Euro 6 engines will be 95% and 97% cleaner than Euro 1, respectively. Incidentally, a modern diesel motor already now has reached the emission values that a few years ago were only thought possible from gas engines. In the meantime the diesel is winning on many fronts. In our view it is therefore unbelievable that local and regional governments are demanding gas engines for public transport and municipal cleaning services. DAF is convinced that the diesel engine will continue to play an important role also in the future, and not just in combination with hybrid technology, which DAF is also developing.”

Seven days per week
The new DAF Engine Test Center has twenty test cells and forms an extension of the existing test facilities (with 14 test units). In the new facility a number of cells are equipped for endurance testing, whereby engines run for seven days per week, 24 hours per day at ambient temperatures up to 50o Celsius. Also low-temperature tests up to minus 20o Celsius and the complete range of noise, power and emission measurements can be carried out in the new engine test center using state-of-the-art technology. Moreover, the laboratory is equipped to carry out tests under changing atmospheric conditions. Even altitudes of up to 4,000 meters can be simulated.

Highest regard for the environment
In designing the DAF Engine Test Center much thought was given not only to applying the most advanced technology, but also to the environment. “Instead of the usual truck industry norm of using water brakes, use was made in the test cells of electrical braking units,” adds Ron Borsboom, director Product Development at DAF Trucks. “During the tests, forces are applied to the engines in accordance with what they would normally experience in practice, but at the same time they function as dynamos. These braking units deliver up to a combined capacity of 8 megawatts or twenty per cent of the total electricity requirement of DAF in Eindhoven.”

36.000m3 air per hour per cell
In addition to underground technical installations, the new building – that measures over 60 by130 meters - comprises two floors: the first floor is completely filled with equipment for air and water treatment. This can re-circulate 36,000 m3 of air per hour per test cell, cool the engines with water, provide air for combustion and vent noise-dampened exhaust gases.

DAF Trucks N.V. – a subsidiary of the American PACCAR Inc, one of the largest producers of heavy trucks in the world, is a leading producer of light, medium and heavy trucks with a market share in Europe*) of 14% in the above 15 ton class. Last year the company delivered a total of almost 61,000 trucks to markets within and outside Europe. Moreover, DAF is leading in the area of services behind the product: Multi Support repair and maintenance contracts, the financial services of PACCAR Financial and a first-class spare parts supply. DAF Trucks N.V. has factories in Eindhoven and in Westerlo in Belgium, more than 1,000 dealers and service centres in Europe and has more than 9,000 employees.