Caterpillar has announced the development of the Cat C13D, a new 13-litre diesel engine platform designed to achieve best-in-class power density, torque and fuel efficiency for optimising the performance of heavy-duty off-highway applications.
Engineered to Caterpillar’s standards for reliability and productivity, the inline, six-cylinder Cat C13D engine platform will offer eight power ratings from 340 to 515kW with up to 3,200Nm of peak torque. The C13D will meet the emissions standards of higher regulated markets, such as EU Stage V, US EPA Tier 4 Final, China Non-road IV, Korea Stage V, and Japan 2014, with models available for lesser regulated markets. Engine-mounted aftertreatment and cooling packs will also be available from the factory to reduce installation and validation costs.
By supplying comparable power and torque available from Caterpillar’s current 13-, 15- and single-turbo 18-litre engine platforms, the Cat C13D platform provides an opportunity for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to downsize the engine and simplify design, assembly, and supply chain requirements across multiple applications. This consolidation can also reduce maintenance, parts, and technical training complexity for end users.
Available for early OEM pilots in 2025 and scheduled for production in 2026, the Cat C13D engine is targeted for a wide range of off-highway equipment, including rock crushers, screeners, and grinders; trenchers; agriculture tractors, harvesters and self-propelled sprayers; woodchippers; material-handling equipment; and large industrial pumps.
Caterpillar will debut the Cat C13D engine and provide additional details about the new platform this week in the South Hall booth S-84329 at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023 construction exhibition, 14-18 March, in Las Vegas, USA.
“Off-highway OEMs and equipment owners face a rapidly evolving business environment that demands improved worksite productivity and reduced operating costs while addressing increasingly stringent emissions standards,” said Steve Ferguson, senior vice president Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems. “Internal combustion engines are the prevailing workhorses on most jobsites around the world, which is why we’ve invested in the next-generation Cat C13D diesel engine platform to address their challenges.”
The Cat C13D engine platform has been engineered to deliver the performance, durability, packaging, and ease of maintenance demanded by manufacturers and buyers of off-highway equipment.
The new engine platform offers up to a 20% increase in power and up to 25% more low-speed torque than the previous generation of Cat engines in its power class. It is designed to perform at altitudes of up to 12,000 ft, which is twice as high as legacy Cat engines, and in extreme ambient temperatures as high as 140F (60C) and as low as minus 40F (minus 40C) with aids.
Engineers have designed the Cat C13D engine for quality, reliability, and easier maintenance through several improvements, including integrating components and reducing the number of leak joints by more than 45%. The upgrades result in lower fluid consumption and extended service intervals as long as 1,000 hours, reducing operating costs and downtime.
The Cat C13D engine platform enables renewable liquid fuels such as 100% HVO, B100 Distilled Biodiesel, and even up to B100 Standard Biodiesel by working with your local Cat dealer*. Further, its core architecture is designed for the future development of natural gas and hydrogen fuel capabilities.
By modularising and eliminating components, its architecture is space-protected to accommodate configuration adjustments anticipated for future tiers of emission standards in the US and EU without relocating customer connection points. All eight power ratings will be available on a common core engine, enabling OEMs to reduce their inventory and integration costs, and the combination of the all-new rear gear train, stiffer core architecture, and common rail fuel system reduces noise by up to 3dB when compared with the C13D’s predecessors.
The new engine platform will be equipped with Cat Digital Services, an integrated suite of robust software and hardware solutions supplying the insight equipment owners need to make decisions on the fly, secure the health of their equipment, and minimise nonproductive time.
The new Cat C13D will be fully supported by the global Cat dealer network, which offers genuine Cat parts and services packaged in Customer Value Agreements. In addition, dealer technicians are trained to provide a comprehensive range of maintenance and services that help customers maximise the performance and optimise the total cost of ownership of Cat industrial engines.
*Fuels must meet the specifications and characteristics described oncat.com to be used in Cat engines and reduce the risk of downtime.
