Displacing 50 per cent of Diesel Fuel with Dual-Fuel Technology
Funded through ERA #5: Natural Gas Challenge in 2020, this project successfully validated Innovative Fuel Systems’ dual-fuel (diesel and compressed natural gas) technology equipment in the heavy-duty trucking industry. This technology allows existing heavy-duty diesel engines to displace up to 50 per cent diesel fuel with a cleaner burning fuel, such as natural gas or hydrogen.
This technology utilizes in-cylinder mixing and sequential port injection to optimize fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The system achieves a 50 per cent displacement of diesel with compressed natural gas (CNG) and can operate in ambient temperatures ranging from -35 to +40 degrees Celsius. The project was completed in 2023, and the technology was developed and tested for both Paccar MX13 and Cummins X15 engines, demonstrating equal performance to diesel-only engines and no issues related to dual-fuel operation. Using this technology results in 9.6 per cent emission reductions in the Paccar MX13 engine and 11 percent reductions in the Cummins X15 engine.
Validating and Commercializing Dual-Fuel Technology
The project involved road testing on six heavy-duty (HD) to test and validate the technology during daily operations for a period of 22 months. Different tank styles were included in the test—side mount, back mount—and depending on customer requirements, the number of tanks is adjusted. The dual-fuel system demonstrated performance equal to that of a diesel-only engine, ensuring that the technology does not compromise engine performance or overall vehicle operation. The most significant and impactful outcome of the project was taking Innovative Fuel Systems’ dual-fuel technology to a fully commercial technology.
What’s next?
This technology is derisked and fully commercial. To validate the technology’s commerciality, KAG Canada made an initial $1M purchase of IFS’ dual-fuel technology—a direct result of this project. This Technology is patented by Innovative Fuel Systems’ as the Multi-Fuel Technology Platform. More recently, building on this technology, the industry has seen advancements in dual fuel diesel-hydrogen technology.