Item written for the SMMT R&D Newsletter sent out to members. This document describes ECO-CAT and part of the development story.

1. ECO-CAT
On-Board Fuel Improvement
Technology
By Derek Foxcroft, CAT – UK
CAT-UK is developing a novel fuel efficiency
technology that reduces fuel use and
associated emissions outputs during the same
process.
The focus of effort was placed on finding a
“hands off” or “fit and forget” technology that
delivered fuel efficiency and improvements
above what could normally be expected and
as a result give credible emission reductions
that could be measured.
The required technology was also aimed at
the heavy diesel commercial vehicle market
where use of diesel fuel was most expensive
and a burden on the fleet operators that
required redress.
Route to market potential is measured in the
billions of pounds region on a global basis and
supports large scale carbon emission
reductions as a result of more efficient use of
diesel fuel.
The ECO-CAT technology started from the
basic concept of diesel pre-heat treatment.
Research had suggested that even some mild
pre-heating of diesel fuels created a more
combustible fuel because a controlled thermal
application in relation to diesel fuel acted on
the molecular cohesion and surface tension of
fuel to enable a faster burn cycle once
injected and compressed in the cylinder.
This was the first element of success for the
ECO-CAT research. When a pre-heated fuel
source was used the subject vehicle (DAF 7.5
tonne GVW) returned a 4% better MPG figure
than without the system installed.
Research had also indicated that excessive
fuel temperatures would initiate potential
injection issues if the core fuel temperature
exceeded 65.55 deg C / 150 deg F.
Diesel fuel is known to lose lubricity starting
at this level of injection temperature and the
higher the core temperature the worse the
situation becomes until damage starts to
occur on internal combustion systems.
The ECO-CAT uses excess thermal energy from
the vehicle coolant system to pipe ambient
coolant through the processor chamber at this
level of technology to heat the flow of fuel
prior to injection.
Fuel heated in this way did not exceed 65.5
deg C during our test runs based on vehicle
workload activity (on the job).
The best result experienced with this simple
matrix build was a reported 7% improved fuel
economy derived from vehicle telematics
fitted.
During this early phase of research some
additional and new thinking was added to the
theory of fuel improvement that fit with the
design CAT-UK already had, this was the
inclusion of the potential to use fuel cracking
technology to add benefit to the current
results experienced.
This added technology boost was the use of
catalysts commonly found in after treatment
systems such as catalytic converters. The
problem was where to start and would it work
at such a small scale and fit in with the need
to control fuel temperatures.
Following a series of experimental mixes of
catalysts suggested by experts in this field a
Figure 1 Basic diesel pre-heat prototype

2. group of catalysts was discovered. The first
“mixture” of catalysts created a benefit
increase of 4% bringing the ECO-CAT total up
to a minimum of 8% on the same 7.5 tonne
DAF unit. Further investigation and research
highlighted a mix of catalysts that eventually
appeared in the first patent that was struck
for the ECO-CAT, this mixture was used on a
larger ECO-CAT that was tested on 44 tonne
GVW Scania and Volvo traction units both
with on-board telematics to measure results
for before and after road trials.
What happened next taught us a valuable
lesson which was that the technology we
were developing was potentially modular and
had a key that unlocked the door to further,
better levels of fuel efficiency.
The final catalytic mix delivered savings of
17% as a minimum of Scania and Volvo units
of 420 bhp at the lower end of the efficiency
improvements and one Volvo FH12 achieved
21.7% improvement as a peak saving.
The average savings for all seven heavy goods
units was 17 – 19% on standard diesel fuel, no
significant variance occurred with bio-diesel
blended fuel.
All testing was done as “in use” trials so we
could see what the technology could do for a
transport operator as is.
The road tests were conducted over a period
of over two years and were conducted in this
way because the customer chose this method
when asked what their preferences were (i.e:
Road Tests or via Lab Test with known
establishments). Consensus voted for the
non-test lab route because what happens in
real life cannot be accurately replicated on a
test track under test conditions according to
the users involved.
This testing method was preferred by CAT-UK
because it was less expensive and gave a
better insight into the range of seasonal,
human and road based interactions the
technology would have to endure.
The result from a survivability point of view
was encouraging. No damages sustained by
the technology, zero failures of the processing
equipment, no differences in operation with
regards to fuel blend used and no
breakdowns.
Road test partners reported better power
delivery, more power availability and greater
fuel and emission performance in general. No
adverse reports have been submitted after 24
months.
Emissions
The data generated by the road testing has
pointed to the fact that very little change in
the MPG figure is required to indicate a larger
emissions reduction capability.
Fossil fuel such as diesel has a long carbon
chain, the longer the carbon chain is the
worse the emissions are. ECO-CAT reduces
the carbon chain length and this naturally
reduces emissions levels and intensity of
Figure 2 - New design concept for ECO-CAT
Figure 3 - Emissions Reduction Potential

3. pollutants such as soot, carbon, diesel
particulate matter.
In relation to emissions and their effects on
associated emissions reduction or suppression
equipment fitted to test vehicles, it was noted
that DPF assemblies and filter elements were
maintained in a cleaner condition for longer
and EGR systems, especially regeneration
cycle based units, ran fewer regeneration
cycles with ECO-CAT fitted than without.
Further research has shown that the ECO-CAT
effect on the fuel being used could also be
shown on a chassis dyno test rig when it was
clear that dwell time was substantially
reduced and low end torque curves
demonstrated a higher value indicating
additional power was being delivered.
These improvements have been linked to the
quality of the fuel post treatment by the
ECO-CAT technology. The effect is similar to
fuel polishing of diesel before delivery to the
vehicle fuel tank. We are exploring this theory
further by creating a none catalyst based fuel
polishing system that bolts to a vehicles
chassis and acts in unison with the standard
diesel fuel filters fitted at OEM levels.
We expect to show that ECO-CAT is actually
more efficient as a stand alone fuel
improvement device than that of fuel
polishing technology. We already know from
our tests that ECO-CAT and fuel polishing
on-board a vehicle will increase fuel efficiency
above the standard 17% we are seeing via
telematics systems.
More extensive research is planned for the
future with regards to emissions and how
ECO-CAT delivers reductions. We are investing
time and effort to research whether better
on-board fuel treatment, without the use of
additives, is feasible and affordable.
Our plan is to use a six gas analyser to
measure the true before and after emission
levels and collate the data recorded. This
came from using a tool (ECO-LOG) from
Lysander which measured live g/km CO2
during some of the car based testing we did
for petrol and diesel vehicles as an additional
test to heavy good vehicles.
The ECO-LOG threw up some interesting facts
on emissions levels as reported by OEM’s for
excise duty purposes compared to the “Live”
reporting of actual g/km CO2 during journeys.
This research pointed to the fact that many
vehicles where actually greener than the
manufacturer labels quoted.
We surmise this is due to the fact that a
simulation of drive cycles used to assess these
things is in play as apposed to what the
vehicle actually emits on a live basis. The gaps
were highly noticeable; this is why we will
measure emissions in future testing more
robustly.
The ECO-CAT technology is now entering the
commercialisation phase and will be built on a
modular production line from CNC
components hand assembled in jigs and
tested prior to release to customer fleets.
Our first deployment to a buying customer is
potentially 33,000 commercial vehicle units in
a size ranged from 3.5 – 44 tonne GVW and
whether diesel or petrol, the same
configuration of ECO-CAT delivers very
different results.
Further research may now occur due to the
UK MOD and US DOD interest we are
Figure 4 - Advanced materials use in ECO-CAT

4. experiencing but through the hands on
research we have already conducted, we are
certain we can deliver a solution to the fuel
reduction plans of both nations armed forces
in the region of 10%+, all we require is a larger
ECO-CAT and our current capability stands at
3,000 bhp which is equivalent to the
Challenger II Main Battle Tank operated by
the UK MOD.
ECO-CAT continues to find the capacity to
reduce carbon chain length in liquid hydro
carbon based fuels and we have also started
to investigate the potential for liquid gas fuels
such as LNG / CNG, the first test was
conducted on a domestic gas boiler which
returned 10% savings from the outset, this
bears further investigation and careful
research as we attempt to reduce costs and
carbon impacts across all fuels we research.
As always, our research is financially
challenged because we are a small self funded
operation but once this challenge has been
overcome, we will invest in better equipment,
additional skilled team members and
advanced manufacturing capabilities to
explore the myriad of additional questions
this technology has thrown up over time.
One thing is for certain; we have no intention
of giving up and hope to help OEM’s get
better economy and emissions results from
stock and future engine designs, after all,
EVERY Drop Counts!!
For more information please contact Derek
Foxcroft at: CAT-UK
(derek@cat-uk.co.uk)
Figure 5 – ECO-CAT Results Summary