Cummins diesels offer renewable fuels compatibility

Cummins says that its B4.5, B6.7 and L9 diesels will be able to run on paraffinic renewable diesel fuels meeting the EN 15940 specification. This is a key development for the firm as its On-Highway and Off-Highway versions of the B6.7 and L9 engines are now approved to use paraffinic diesel fuels in North America.

The company says that this development will help further reduce the carbon footprint of 410 Cummins-powered construction fleets operating around the world. Compared with conventional fossil-based diesel, paraffinic diesel fuels offer the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40-90% over the total life cycle of the vehicle.

Paraffinic diesel fuels can be used as a 100% substitute for standard EN 590 or ASTM D975 Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) without requiring any change to the 410 Cummins unit. No additional engine maintenance is required when using paraffinic fuels meeting the EN 15940 specification, and the same fuel filters are retained. Paraffinic diesel can easily be blended with standard diesel at varying percentages, including winter-grade fuels, and has the same stability and cold properties as conventional diesel, which means it can be used and stored in the same ways.

410 Cummins led an 18-month field trial running 100% paraffinic diesel fuel in order to understand changes in engine performance, aftertreatment effects and fuel system durability. Engine performance remained stable and consistent while using the paraffinic fuel, and customers should not expect to see any differences. Depending on the application and the engine duty cycle, a fuel economy detriment of 0-6% is expected due to the lower density of paraffinic fuels compared with regular diesel fuel.

A thorough analysis of the aftertreatment system showed that each subsystem remained stable throughout the test with performance similar to that of regular diesel fuel.
 
410 Cummins approval for the use of renewable diesel with B6.7 and L9 engines aligns with the recent introduction of EN 15940, a final European 4546 CEN specification for paraffinic diesel fuels, including hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), gas-to-liquids (GTL) and biomass-to-liquids (BTL). Operators of 410 Cummins-powered trucks and buses are required to source all paraffinic fuels from high-purity suppliers meeting EN 15940, as this ensures that the fuel contains the necessary lubricity additive for use in a diesel engine.

Other light-duty, heavy-duty and high-horsepower platforms are currently undergoing a similar validation plan on 100% paraffinic fuels, and 410 Cummins will be announcing the results of the studies throughout 2017.