ClearFlame marks several milestones

ClearFlame Engine Technologies, the Illinois-based company that has developed technology which allows diesel engines to operate on alternative low-carbon fuels, announced it has hit a number of key milestones through multiple partnerships with customers, manufacturers and fuel providers.

ClearFlame Engine Technologies has announced several milestones in the advancement of its deccarbonization technology designed to enable a diesel engine to operate on other low-carbon fuels. (Photo: Clearflame)

The milestones include:

- Signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Reviva and Vander Haag’s, Inc. 

Minneapolis-based Reviva, which is a privately held remanufacturer whose products are available at many aftermarket truck component suppliers and large truck dealers in the USA and Canada, has been named ClearFlame’s initial engine remanufacturing partner, responsible for integrating ClearFlame’s kit into existing Cummins X15 engines.

Vander Haag’s, Inc., with nine locations throughout the Midwest, will serve as the vehicle integrator, reinstalling the ClearFlame engines into Class 8 trucks. In addition to its vehicle integration activities, Vander Haag’s, Inc. will also leverage its parts distribution network to provide components for the initial integration as well as ongoing parts support.

- The commencement of ClearFlame’s first pilot fleet trial with Beck’s, one of the largest family-owned retail seed companies in the U.S. and and third-largest seed brand. This represents ClearFlame’s first official pilot and the truck is accumulating miles and driving long distances in a range of operating conditions, as well as short haul routes between the company’s Indiana locations, with a variety of different load types. Several other pilots with other companies are also planned through the end of the year, ClearFlame said.

“These critical milestones for ClearFlame are further proof of the flexibility and agility of our technology, which continues to hit every technological milestone at incredible speed,” said Julie Blumreiter, ClearFlame co-founder and chief technology officer. “Our partnerships with Reviva and Vander Haag’s, Inc. demonstrate that we can move extremely quickly to seamlessly capitalize upon the existing ecosystem of engine remanufacturers and more than 250,000 mechanics who already service diesel engines today in the U.S. with no need for additional infrastructure investment, special tools, or complicated training.

“And through our work with fleet partners like Beck’s, we’ll continue with extensive durability testing and validation of our technology, keeping our lower-cost solution on track for successful commercialization in late 2023.”

- The establishment of a fuel coalition for the same of E98 fuel. While ClearFlame’s technology is fuel agnostic, its current engines run on ethanol, which is widely available across the United States as a blend component, but is not currently for sale. To provide E98 to the ClearFlame-modified truck with Beck’s, a group of Indiana fuel providers came together, creating the first coalition enabling the use of ethanol as a truck fuel. These included Central Indiana Ethanol as the fuel manufacturer), CountryMark as the distributor and Co-Alliance Cooperative Inc. as a fuel retailer.

“As these cross-industry partnerships indicate, our innovative technology for the decarbonization of heavy-duty engines can be effectively integrated and quickly scaled across the United States in the short term – not years from now,” said BJ Johnson, ClearFlame co-founder and CEO. “This is critical, particularly in industries like heavy-duty transportation.

“The speed and agility with which the Indiana ethanol fuel coalition was able to come together to provide E98 fuel to our truck with Beck’s goes even further to underscore how easy it will be for ClearFlame’s technology to rapidly scale for fleets across the country. Ethanol is already distributed through fuel terminals nationwide. In addition to being widely available, it’s proven to be a much greener fuel, with substantially lower carbon emissions than diesel, and significant cost savings.”

ClearFlame said it expects to achieve commercialization of its engine modification technology by the end of 2023. The company is currently working with the EPA to achieve all environmental approvals. Current pilot trucks are running under EPA exemption.