Diesel fleet performance in mining and heavy industry is often declining unnoticed, with critical implications for compliance, asset integrity and operating costs.

A structured 12-step engineering framework, developed by engineering-driven company Clean Mobility Innovations (CMI), is being positioned as a solution to help operations monitor early warning signs, maintain regulatory compliance and reduce long-term costs.

For surface and underground mining, marine and inland shipping, offshore oil rig operations, rail and heavy industrial power generation environments, diesel engines with high emission levels are the primary diagnostic indicator of assets in decline. The relationship between emissions and reliability is direct and measurable. Some of these include symptoms such as fuel inefficiency, where every unit of unburnt fuel is wasted energy. High particulate mass concentrations are the measurable signature of incomplete combustion – and a direct drain on operating cost per hour.

A second symptom of quiet decline is component fatigue, where excessive diesel particulate matter (DPM) loading accelerates wear on turbochargers, fuel injectors and after- treatment systems, shortening asset life and driving unplanned maintenance costs.

The third symptom includes lost productivity, where poor combustion robs engines of power.

The solution is CMI’s fuel-borne catalyst CM4 – independently tested at UTAC Millbrook, UK, proving that the catalyst posed no harm to engines. The product’s catalytic action restores combustion efficiency, delivering cleaner burn cycles that translate into more productive machine hours, reduced cycle times and lower fuel consumption per tonne/hour worked.

CMI addresses this through a four-phase engineering process framework, consisting of 12 progressive steps towards measurable, sustained emissions-based maintenance (EBM), anchored by its fuel-borne catalyst CM4.

According to CMI, the approach can deliver measurable operational benefits, including more than 30% reductions in tailpipe emissions, improvements in combustion efficiency of around 35% and fuel consumption reductions of between 8% and 12%.

Compliance Deadline

Governments across every major mining jurisdiction are imposing binding carbon budgets, mandatory emissions mitigation plans and escalating penalties for non- compliance. For underground operations, legislated elemental carbon limits are already in force or will be introduced soon.

In addition, industry bodies such as mining and metals advocacy group ICMM have committed their members to a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 – a target echoed by the Global Cement and Concrete Association, the International Maritime Organisation and the International Energy Agency, which identifies heavy industry as the largest single source of hard-to-abate emissions globally. For diesel-fleet-dependent operations, translating these macro targets into asset-level action is the defining operational challenge of the decade, adds CMI.

Reducing NO and NO₂ at source through improved combustion – rather than relying on after-treatment alone – directly lowers exposure and mechanical costs. Reducing CO2 through improved combustion supports the efforts to reduce GHGs. By measuring CO2, the carbon mass balance can be calculated. CO2 before treatment versus CO2 after treatment indicates and validates fuel consumption savings, thus demonstrating the financial return on emissions reduction investment.

“Waiting for enforcement is not a strategy; it is a liability,” notes CMI.

The 12-Step Framework

CM4 is an advanced fuel-borne catalyst – a proprietary blend of metallic and organometallic catalysts dosed into diesel or biodiesel to reduce harmful exhaust gases involving CO, CO2, NO, NO2, unburnt hydrocarbons and DPM. Developed over ten years, CM4 is not a standalone product. It is introduced in the second phase of the structured four-phase engineering process applicable to any diesel fleet, in any sector.

Phase 1 of the framework consists of the first three steps and focuses on baseline and stabilisation, improving the mechanical health score from 5/10 to a stabilised platform.

Tailpipe emissions are measured fleet-wide and high emitters are isolated and corrected. Bulk fuel filtration is installed at dispensing points, eliminating contamination at source.

Phase 2 of the framework consists of the next three steps and focuses on combustion optimisation. The mechanical health score improves to 7/10 to optimised combustion.

Post-maintenance improvements are validated and engines are fine-tuned. CM4 is then introduced and dosed precisely into the fuel supply to promote oxygen free radical formation, lower soot generation and reduce particulate loading. The result is cleaner combustion, lower engine stress and measurably improved fuel efficiency.

Phase 3 of the framework consists of steps seven to nine and focuses on validation and targeted hardware. The mechanical health score improves further, to 9.5/10 to full compliance and asset protection.

Catalyst effectiveness is validated fleet-wide. Step nine then applies a structured compliance decision, determining whether exhaust aftertreatment with a diesel particulate filter is required or not.

Phase 4 of the framework consists of the final two steps and focuses on sustainability and long-term reliability. This objective is to institutionalise EBM.

Post-intervention performance is confirmed, mechanical deviations are corrected proactively and emissions monitoring is embedded into an ongoing EBM preventative maintenance programme. The fleet no longer deteriorates silently, states CMI.

The Technology Behind the Process

CMI delivers a fully integrated, turnkey platform built around an automated on-site dosing system that precisely treats diesel at the point of delivery, underpinned by programmable logic controller and supervisory control and data acquisition software, and full Internet-of-things compatibility. The platform also uses world-leading tailpipe emissions measurement technology that generates independent emissions reports, giving engineering teams the real-time visibility and regulatory-grade data they need to manage fleet performance with confidence.

CMI cautions that it is important not to wait for engine failure or regulatory enforcement, but rather to move from reactive maintenance to evidence-based emissions control. The 12-step clean mobility framework gives heavy industry engineering teams the visibility, control and measurable improvement pathways to meet the 2025 to 2026 global compliance mandates while protecting their most valuable diesel assets.