Ford’s Dagenham plant saves enough water to fill 7 Olympic-sized swimming pools

The new Ford EcoBlue diesel engine production line at Dagenham Engine Plant, near London, UK, will reduce water and energy consumption by over 50 percent compared with its predecessor.

Dagenham Engine Plant is Ford’s largest diesel engine production facility globally and produced the first EcoBlue diesel engine in April this year. Water usage per engine will be among the lowest at any Ford manufacturing facility worldwide, delivering an anticipated annual saving of 17.5 million litres of water compared with 2011 – enough to fill seven Olympic-size swimming pools.

EcoBlue engine production capacity will initially be up to 350,000 units per year – one engine produced every 30 seconds. The second phase of engine production is scheduled to start in 2017, with the first installation in Ford cars planned for 2018. The added capacity of up to 150,000 units for this phase brings the total annual capacity for the all-new engine range to half a million units.

The all-new 2.0-litre Ford EcoBlue diesel engine debuts in the new Ford Transit and Transit Custom commercial vehicles, delivering an unrivalled package of fuel efficiency, performance and refinement. The engine’s clean-sheet design features friction-reducing innovations that contribute to a 13 percent improvement in fuel efficiency.

The reduction in the volume of coolant pumped around the facility also helps to significantly reduce energy usage. Three smaller coolant systems require around 70 percent less energy, and contribute to reducing energy use per engine from 188 kWh in 2011 to 92 kWh in 2016 – the energy saved is roughly enough to power an average house for a week.

750,000 kWh energy saved – enough to power 7,500 houses for a week

A new LED lighting installation at Dagenham meets the latest Ford standards and will further help reduce energy consumption by almost 750,000 kWh per year – roughly enough to power 7,500 houses for a week.

Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) machining tools – which replace high volumes of coolant with fine mists of oil to cool, lubricate and clean during the metal working process – use 99.8 percent less water than the machining tools they replace, and alone are expected to account for an annual water saving of almost 16 million litres.

“Ever since Henry Ford first introduced the moving assembly line Ford has been at the forefront of manufacturing innovation, and our new Dagenham facility is no exception,” said Linda Cash, vice president, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe. “Ford is using the latest technologies to ensure our all-new EcoBlue diesel engine production meets the highest standards for sustainability and makes a significant contribution to our global environmental targets.”

Ford is targeting a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) per vehicle produced between 2010 and 2025 globally and looks to further reduce the amount of water used per vehicle, having achieved its goal of a 30 percent reduction between 2009 and 2015.

The new Ford EcoBlue production line in Dagenham makes a significant contribution to achieving Ford’s global targets and is helping to shape future objectives through its example.

Further energy and resource-saving initiatives at Ford’s Dagenham Diesel Centre include:

-  Zero waste sent to landfill through innovations such as recovering oil and forming reusable metallic briquettes from grinding sludge

-  New cold testing technology that allows completed engines to be tested without being started – saving 50,000 litres of diesel per year

-  Advanced tooling, including computerised milling machines capable of reducing rejection rates for some components to almost zero

The Dagenham estate is also home to the Dagenham Diesel Centre, which produces small-capacity diesel engines, and is also where the new EcoBlue diesel engine was designed and engineered.

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