ClearFlame Engine offers engine modifications

ClearFlame Engine Technologies, is proving companies don’t need to choose between their bottom lines and hitting ESG targets.

ClearFlame is cleaning up existing assets through engine modification to decrease fleets’ carbon footprints, while at the same time saving them money on operating costs and offering the same performance drivers are used to.

The company’s solution is this: It removes diesel from diesel engines through heavy-duty compression ignition engine modification, allowing trucks to run on a wide range of clean-burning, plant-based renewable fuels.

This means engines can run on fuel like ethanol, methanol or ammonia, which are all produced widely, available globally and offer reduced emissions and lower cost than traditional fossil fuels.

The company’s first application of its model was using 100% fuel-grade ethanol, not a blend, in a modified engine of a Class 8 truck.

Ethanol in particular offers several advantages: It’s sustainable, over 15 billion gallons are produced in the U.S. each year and it doesn’t require significant investments in refueling infrastructure.

According to an independent study conducted by Gladstein, Neandross & Associates, and commissioned by ClearFlame, the company’s solution can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 42% compared to diesel, and fleets can also enjoy significant savings.

The study’s pricing model demonstrates motor carriers can reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) per mile by 30 cents by switching to ClearFlame’s ethanol-powered engines. This means many could recoup the price of engine modification in under a year.

The study further affirmed that the TCO with ClearFlame is less than any other option currently available, including engines running on diesel, natural gas, electric and hydrogen.

While achieving emissions targets and lowering operating costs are high priorities for fleets, it won’t help their bottom lines if clean engines can’t effectively replicate the performance of traditional diesel-powered ones. With ClearFlame, that’s not a problem. Its clean engines match the torque of diesel-powered engines, allowing them to sustain the power that drivers are accustomed to.

Current diesel mechanics or technicians can work on ClearFlame engines with little additional training. Eighty percent of the engine remains the same after modification, demonstrating its practicality for all fleets, not just those with specialized mechanics.

ClearFlame’s path ahead to commercial release is a short one. For the last several years, it ran its technology in test cells. In 2022, it started accumulating miles. It anticipates that the several fleets running its pilot trucks will log 500,000 miles before commercial release in early 2024.