Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems announced two new air system efficiency products.
A new electrically controlled air dryer (ECAD) will be in use on a major OEM’s trucks beginning in late February. ECAD is a robust, highly developed air processing system and meets increased requirements for processed system air.
ECAD offers a number of advantages compared to conventional air dryer systems, the company says. Its electric air dryer includes two solenoid valves which facilitates pressure control and regeneration.
To control ECAD, the vehicle’s electric control unit (ECU) compiles relevant information for air drying, such as line pressure, engine speed, engine operating time, road speed and ambient temperature. With intelligent regeneration control, intermediate regenerations take place during long delivery cycles and are determined by delivered air volume. Regeneration takes place from the system reservoir volume, with no separate regeneration reservoir required.
The benefits of ECAD include:
• Intelligent compressor control and drying
• Monitoring of dryer working cycles and flow rate
• Cartridge change requirement detected and displayed on control panel
• Up to 2% Potential fuel savings by using ECAD combined with control software
• Lower service cost
Meritor WABCO also announced an enhancement to its System Saver 1200 Plus air dryer, which it originally released in 2009. The enhancement integrates the wet tank into the existing platform for more applicatioin flexibility and the capability for additional weight savings.
The System Saver 1200 Plus, developed specifically for North American braking systems, is a high-capacity, spin-on air dryer that utilizes internal air for regeneration. By incorporating the wet tank and adding a drain valve, it allows customers to have one less reservoir in the system.
Additionally, the labor time needed to replace the spin-on cartridge is less than five minutes compared with up to 30 minutes for other air dryers, and replacement cartridges typically cost less than competitive designs.
“We engineered the system to meet the demands of the modern commercial vehicle air system requirements,” said Stephen Hampson, director of compression and braking, Meritor WABCO. “With the addition of the Integrated Wet Tank, our air dryer now provides the industry a complete package for air dryer applications.”
Meritor WABCO’s product line of safety and efficiency products includes brake systems, ABS and automatic traction control, stability control systems, collision safety systems and vehicle monitoring.
