Future Proof: Meeting Today’s and Tomorrow’s Regulations with Tier 4/Stage 5 Rock Drills

Tier 4 is the fourth and final phase of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) non-road diesel emissions program, phased in between 2008 and 2015. It targets the same four pollutants regulated since the program began: carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). Tier 4 Final represents the biggest jump, cutting NOx and PM emissions by roughly 90% compared to Tier 3.

Hitting those numbers takes more than a tuned engine. Tier 4-compliant engines typically rely on a combination of technologies: selective catalytic reduction (SCR) that uses diesel exhaust fluid to break down NOx, diesel particulate filters to trap soot, diesel oxidation catalysts, and cooled exhaust gas recirculation. Because regulations still vary by state and province with some jurisdictions continuing to allow contractors to run Tier 3 or older equipment, today’s active fleets are a mix of engine generations.

The EU’s Stage V standard, phased in starting in 2019, further raises the regulation bar. The key difference from Tier 4 is a particulate number (PN) limit, which is a cap not just on the total mass of particulates an engine emits, but on the number of ultra-fine soot particles released. For engines between 19 kW and 560 kW, that PN limit effectively makes a diesel particulate filter mandatory, whereas some Tier 4-compliant engines in the U.S. can meet their standard without one. Stage V also tightens the mass-based PM limit itself, down to 0.015 g/kWh for many engine categories.

Right now, the United Kingdom is the only market where Tier 4/Stage 5-compliant engines are required as standard. But as more regions look to the EU’s approach as the model for future rulemaking, that’s likely to change. Equipment bought today needs to be ready for it.

Rather than build to the minimum and wait for regulations to catch up, FRD USA equips its rock drills with engines that exceed baseline Tier 4 requirements, meeting the combined Tier 4/Stage 5 diesel emissions standard right now. That’s made possible through FRD’s engine manufacturer partners, Caterpillar and Cummins, whose Tier 4/Stage 5-rated platforms pair SCR and DEF dosing with particulate filtration to satisfy both the U.S. mass-based limits and the EU’s added particle-number requirement in a single engine package.

The payoff for contractors is practical. Because these engines already clear the stricter of the two standards, FRD rock drills can be deployed in any market without being re-engineered or re-certified for local emissions rules. It also extends the working life of the equipment: as older-generation engines get phased out of the field by ongoing regulatory tightening, drills built to Tier 4/Stage 5 stay in compliance longer, delaying the point where a machine has to be retired for emissions reasons.

In addition to emissions standards, noise limits matter too, which is why the decibel rating is posted clearly on the side of every drill, so operators and anyone working nearby know what level of hearing protection the job requires. FRD rock drills are engineered to keep that number down at the source, with engine panel placement and cooling airflow routed specifically to dampen noise rather than just contain it.

Between engines built to outrun today’s regulations and design choices that address noise as well as emissions, FRD provides drilling contractors with equipment that keeps working, wherever the job is and whatever the rules become.

See our complete line of high-performing blasthole drills that meet even the strictest emissions regulations.