Cummins introduces fuel-agnostic internal combustion engine options

Cummins Inc. unveiled what it called the industry’s first unified fuel-agnostic engine platforms, which feature components with common architectures among its core components and engine blocks.

During a virtual press conference held Feb. 14 to announce the new engine platforms, Srikanth Padmanabhan, president of Cummins Engine Business, said the basic concept for the new platforms was for everything below the head gasket will be common components, while above the head gasket will be different components based on fuel type.

“Getting to zero is not a light-switch event. Carbon emissions that we put into the atmosphere today will have a lasting impact. This means anything we can do to start reducing the carbon footprint today is a win for the planet. We need to take action now,” said Padmanabhan. “Having a variety of lower carbon options is particularly important considering the variation in duty cycles and operating environments across the many markets we serve. There is no single solution or ‘magic bullet’ that will work for all application types or all end users.”

Parts commonality

The fuel-agnostic platform will be available on Cummins’ B, L and X-Series engine portfolios, which will be available for diesel, natural gas and hydrogen. Additionally, Cummins says the B-Series will be available for gasoline, propane and hydrogen fuels.

Each engine version will operate using a different, single fuel, but will be derived from a common base engine design. During the virtual announcement, Jonathon White, vice president of Engineering, Engine Business, noted the fuel-agnostic platforms will feature up to 80 percent parts commonality.

“This is a new way of designing and developing lower emission internal combustion powertrains that meet the unique needs of the transportation industry while leveraging the benefits of a common product architecture and footprint where possible,” said White. “This unique technology approach will allow end users to more seamlessly pick the right powertrain for their application with the lowest CO2 impact.”

Supporting the many paths to zero emissions

Cummins explains these fuel-agnostic platforms are designed and built upon the learnings extracted from millions of diesel and natural gas engines manufactured and currently in-use. Today’s digital and connected technologies allow Cummins to extract insights specific to different engine duty cycles and leverage these to design reliable fuel-agnostic platforms.

“Our customers can be confident in Cummins’ unmatched testing and evaluation process ensuring high-performance products,” said White. “No matter what type of work a fleet does, we’ll have an engine powered by lower carbon fuels with diesel-like performance to get the job done.”

The introduction of these platforms will allow Cummins’ customers options to start or progress down their path to zero emissions. The company says it will “continue to focus on innovating lower-emission solutions alongside our zero-emissions technology.”

“Cummins is innovating at every level of the company to find new ways of working that use fewer of the world’s resources and the Engine Business is at the center of this exciting innovation,” said Padmanabhan. “We know that our planet cannot wait for the perfect solution to happen. Instead, our approach must be a combined effort of using zero emissions power where it’s available and using cleaner power where it is not. The planet cannot afford for us to hit pause in the meantime.”