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How Intangles' AI-powered DPF monitoring solution improves fleet efficiency, prevents breakdowns and saves fleets money
Diesel Particulate Filters cause professional drivers and fleets a lot of grief. We sought to change that. So, we created a product that is so sophisticated it can even forecast excess costs incurred due to DPF inefficiency.
Since they were mandated in many jurisdictions more than 10 years ago, diesel particulate filters (DPFs) have become a fact of life for fleets and operators—and sometimes, not a particularly happy one. But with a new AI-powered DPF solution from Intangles, maintenance and breakdown prevention are about to become a whole lot easier and cost-efficient.
Good for the environment, but …
Simply put, DPFs are designed to catch and hold on to the air particulates produced by burning diesel fuel. The soot that accumulates in the DPF needs to be removed periodically through a process known as “regeneration,” or “regen” for short, which burns off accumulated particulates at very high temperatures. Most trucks today are equipped to do that through so-called active regen, which is triggered by the Engine Control Unit (ECU) when soot load in the DPF exceeds a predefined accumulation threshold set by the OEM and certain driving conditions are met; or through passive regen which initiates automatically while the vehicle is in motion at certain speed level. If, however, a truck spends a lot of time idling or moving at slow speeds, the operator will need to perform a parked or forced regen. That involves manually engaging the regeneration process (usually with a dashboard switch) and waiting for 20 minutes or longer, depending on how much soot has built up in the DPF.
The trouble is, it can be difficult for operators and fleet managers to know exactly when a forced regen is needed or how efficient regens are in cleaning out the soot. Particulate buildup levels can vary widely depending on speed, idling and other factors, and fleets have very limited information about DPF performance in real time. When a DPF regeneration is inefficient, a vehicle can suffer from reduced engine power, performance and fuel efficiency (not to mention nasty-smelling exhaust fumes). When not properly maintained, DPFs cause major headaches in the form of higher maintenance and repair costs and an increased risk of breakdown.
Intangles’ Digital Twin solution to the rescue
Clearly, there is a need for a platform that can monitor and analyze DPF performance in real time and help operators and fleet managers make better decisions. That’s where Intangles comes in.
In early 2024, Intangles added a new feature to its AI-powered predictive maintenance platform for the transportation industry. The company’s DPF solution leverages Digital Twin Technology to create a virtual replica of a vehicle’s DPF, then uses proprietary hardware, continuously learning AI algorithms, and scalable cloud infrastructure to test how the virtual filter will perform under varying conditions—from extreme cold weather to long idling and stop-start driving situations, which can lead to excessive clogging.
With Intangles’ solution, drivers and managers can get actionable information and insights into how a vehicle’s DPF is performing in real time. The solution monitors and measures soot percentages, informs the user of the quality of each regen and the impact of inefficient regens, and guides them on how to optimize a forced regeneration.
And then it goes even further, predicting future performance of the DPF system based on environmental and vehicle-specific conditions. Intangles’ analysis is so sophisticated that it can even forecast excess costs incurred due to DPF inefficiency.
In short, Intangles’ new DPF solution, which can be installed in most makes and models that Intangles supports worldwide, finally gives drivers and fleet managers the DPF information and analysis they need.
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