Test Results & Case Studies
Over 100 results from over 23 countries!
Customer tests - Private labs - Government labs
There are A BUNCH of test results and case studies on this page!
They are from a variety of sources: labs, customers, etc. Some are old, some are new, all are factual & non-biased.
We have the original reports and data for many of them, if you really want to get into the weeds!
We invite you to review these until you get tired and then call us to get similar savings for your operation.
Our fuel catalyst: test results and case studies
This page lists 104 test results and case studies for our fuel catalyst from mining, trucking, generators, ports and shipping, rail, buses, government agencies, independent laboratories and oil-fired boilers in more than 20 countries. They come from customer fleet trials, customer letters, private laboratories and government laboratories. On-highway trucks typically see 3% to 5% fuel savings. Mining equipment, locomotives, ships, generators and other heavy diesel equipment typically see 5% to 7%. Results depend on the engine, duty cycle, fuel and test method.
How to read these tables: "Fuel result" is the reduction in fuel used, or the gain in fuel efficiency, reported by the customer or laboratory. CO2 reductions are not listed separately because CO2 comes from the carbon in the fuel: a 5% fuel saving is a 5% CO2 reduction. Payback and ROI are as reported in each study. Zelkam holds the original reports for many of these results and shares them on request. Zelkam LLC (Peoria, Illinois, USA) delivers these results with patented Rentar catalyst technology, made in the USA.
Mining, quarrying and earthmoving
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very large open-pit mine | Latin America | Five Cat 797 haul trucks, 7-month trial, thousands of data points | 5.85% | Under 1-month payback; $5.8M annual savings |
| Vale, Itabira Complex | Brazil | Cat 793F haul trucks; before/after emissions testing by an independent third-party lab | About 5% | Validated with verified GHG reductions |
| Acciona | Australia | 2 Cat D8 dozers and 2 Cat 16M graders, 2,000–3,000 hours of normal earthmoving | 15% (D8), 9% (16M) | About 6-month ROI |
| Major U.S. quarry and materials supplier | USA | Fleet user since 2008; retested after switching to liquid additives | 6.5% (original), 7.8% (retest) | Engine life extended about 50%; hundreds of units |
| Cemex | USA | Heavy equipment, in service more than 13 years | 6–7% | Payback under 6 months; engine life extended 20–50% |
| Lafarge | North America | Cat 980H wheel loaders and Cat 777D haul trucks, two quarries | 14% and 16% | Two different pilot methods, similar results |
| Heidelberg Cement | Europe | Control group vs. test group, each 2 Komatsu HD605 trucks + 1 Komatsu PC750 excavator | 14.69% | |
| Rogers Group (largest private U.S. crushed-stone producer) | USA | Hundreds of units across all large mobile equipment, nationwide | 7.3% average | |
| Largest U.S. construction-materials quarry company | USA | Tier 4 engines | 4.7% | |
| Nationwide U.S. quarry company | USA | 7 trucks and excavators at a large California quarry running on renewable diesel (HVO), 1-year test | 7.8% | |
| Covanta Energy | USA | EPA-protocol testing, then entire equipment fleet at 28 plants | 5% | CO −75.9%; NOx −47.7%; particulates −52.6% |
| Mining equipment user | USA | Cat 980H wheel loader (Cat C15 engine) | 5.6% | |
| Mining company | Chile | Cat 797B haul truck (Cat 3524B engine) | 6.3% | |
| Mining equipment user | USA | Cat 777C haul truck (3508B) | 6.03% | |
| Brazil mine | Brazil | Cat 793D haul truck (3516B), two catalysts | 5.29% | 5.6-month payback |
| Brazil mine | Brazil | Cat D8T dozer | 8.7% | 4.4-month payback |
| Fourth-largest Caterpillar dealer in the world | Brazil | Cat D11 dozers (rental fleet) | 5.7% average | |
| Mining company | Brazil | Cat D11T dozer (Pará) | 4.2% | 3.5-month ROI |
| Mining company | Brazil | Cat 785C haul trucks vs. control trucks (Goiás) | 3.95% | 6-month ROI; US$28,552 saved per truck per year |
| Mining company | Brazil | Cat 775 truck (Minas Gerais) | 2.1% | |
| Logistics company | Brazil | Cat 320D shovel (Espírito Santo) | 5.3% | 17-month ROI |
| Mining company | Brazil | Volvo L250 loader vs. control machine | 3.3% net | 14.6-month payback |
| Mining company | Brazil | Three Scania G440 tipper trucks vs. three identical control trucks; data verified by mine staff | 4.53% | |
| Mining company | Brazil | Two Cat 793F trucks, independent testing lab | 4.7% | CO −18% |
| Phosphate and potash miner (operations in 8 countries) | Multiple | Scania and Mercedes trucks, Cat loader | 7.2% average | |
| Equipment operator | Türkiye | Cat machines, long-term fuel data | 5.4% | |
| Sierra Gorda copper-molybdenum mine | Chile | Mine equipment | 5.3% | |
| ExxonMobil, Monterey Mines | USA | Catalyst units installed on mine equipment | — | Installed |
| Top-5 global mining company | Global | More than 2,000 pieces of heavy equipment; fleet rollout under way | — | $20,000–$35,000 saved per machine per year; payback under 4 months |
| Major mine | Peru | Two Cat 390 excavators, 1-year test | 4.7% | 4-month payback; 360% ROI |
| Revathi Mining Drilling | India | Two drills, fuel per meter of rock drilled | 8.5% | |
| Cemex, San Pedro de Macorís quarry | Dominican Republic | Cat 775E haul trucks (Cat 3512 engine) | 11.5% | 6,280 gal and $21,980 saved per truck per year; 3.8-month payback |
| Yamana Gold | Brazil | Mine fleet | — | Under 1-year payback; letter of endorsement |
| V Arks Engineers | India | L&T Komatsu PC-300 Poclain excavator | 30% | Customer letter |
On-highway trucking (typically 3–5%)
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penske Leasing and Toyota Transport | USA | 5 trucks with Cat C-12 engines, environment-controlled lab dynamometer | 11.3% highway, 3.2% city | Particulates −42.2% (highway); fleet of West Coast car carriers then equipped |
| Penske Truck Leasing for Exel/DHL, Lubbock TX | USA | 5 trucks, 66 days, 123,954 miles | 5.1% | |
| Penske Truck Leasing for DHL | USA | 10 Class 8 trucks (5 test, 5 control), 95 days, 289,200 miles, EPA-recognized fuel test procedure | 4.59% | $3,646 saved per truck per year; payback under 1 year |
| C.R. England | USA | 10 trucks with the catalyst vs. 32 control trucks, life of the fleet, 12,703,840 miles | 4.4% | |
| FedEx | USA | Class 8 trucks in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas and Utah, about 1.5 million miles | 3.3% average | |
| ITL (petroleum marketer), Los Angeles | USA | Fleet of Class 8 fuel delivery trucks, first 9 months | 6.96% | |
| Rinehart Oil | USA | Class 8 trucks with Cat C12 engines, control group vs. test group | 8.99% (MPG) | |
| Hansen & Adkins | USA | Car-carrier trucks, part of fleet equipped | 4.1% | |
| Road-train operator | Australia | Road train with Cat C16 engine | 6.5% | |
| Trucking fleet | USA | Peterbilt 385 with Cat C13 engine | 6.7% | |
| Forestry company | Brazil | Mercedes Axor 3344 truck (Mato Grosso do Sul) | 7.9% | 8.5-month ROI |
| Forestry company | Brazil | Scania G440 truck (Mato Grosso do Sul) | 5.9% | 10.8-month ROI |
| Logistics company | Brazil | Scania truck (Espírito Santo) | 8.4% | 17-month ROI |
| European construction company | Europe | Iveco 5.8 L truck, 3 months, 9,000 km | 9.4% | |
| Millbrook Proving Ground | UK | Volvo FL10 tractor | 7.38% | |
| Engine emissions laboratory, CARB/EPA UDDS-HD protocol | USA | Cummins ISM 330 in a Penske International tractor | 5% | HC −14%; CO −19% |
| Chassis dynamometer laboratory | USA | Peterbilt with Cummins N-14, over 1 million miles, 100 hours | Up to 10% |
Generators (gensets)
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEMEX, Terminal Varreux | Haiti | Cat 3406C generator; CEMEX technicians collected all data | 31.1% more kWh per gallon | |
| Hanson Aggregates, Wickenburg AZ quarry | USA | Cat 3406 generator; customer-managed study | 22.1% | |
| Tata Motors, Lucknow plant | India | Two Cummins 1010 kVA generators | 15.57% | Customer letter |
| Britannia Industries, New Delhi | India | Diesel generator | 12.12% | Customer technical report |
| Soma Enterprise, Subansiri Hydro Electric Project | India | Cat 1010 kVA generators (C32) | 12% | 22-day payback |
| V Arks Engineers | India | 330 kVA Cat generator | 15% | Customer letter |
| Usha Engineering | India | Kirloskar 125 kVA generator | 8% | Customer letter |
| HBL Power Systems (independent test), Nanigaon | India | Cummins 1250 kVA generator, 844-hour baseline | 7.52% | |
| ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) | India | Kirloskar 200 kW genset engine, ISO 8178 D2 5-mode test | 3.04% | PM −58.2%; CO −35.4%; HC −15.4% |
| Mahindra & Mahindra | India | Generators and boilers | About 6% | Customer letter |
| Vodafone | India | Mahindra 15 kVA generator | 13.2% | |
| DeVANS Breweries | India | Cat 320 kVA and Volvo Penta 500 kVA generators | 9% | |
| Generator user | India | Cummins 1500 kVA generator | 7% | |
| Generator user | India | Cummins 140 kVA generator | 12% | Reduced black smoke |
| Generator user | Saipan | Cat 3306 genset | 5.3% | |
| Generator user | USA (Alaska) | Cat 3516 genset | 6.1% |
Ports, maritime and shipping
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DP World (manages more than 80 ports) | UAE / Global | 90 catalysts at one port, first year | 7.5% lower fuel cost | |
| Borusan (2023 sustainability report) | Türkiye | 3 stackers, validated results, then fleet rollout | 5%, 8%, 19%; 10.8% average | 3–6 month payback; 200–400% ROI |
| Adani Ports and Logistics | India | Tugboat with Niigata 8L28HX engine | 5% | 5-month ROI; more than 100 tugboats equipped |
| Del Monte | Global | Freighters | 4.5% | Entire freighter fleet equipped |
| Norbulk Shipping, Glasgow | UK | Auxiliary generators on 3 ships (Horncliff, Toledo Carrier, Sevilla Carrier), IFO 380 fuel, flow meters, 250-hour periods | 5.1%, 5.2%, 3.1% | Client's entire fleet then equipped |
| Gulf Orient Seaways | — | Weichai main propulsion engine | 10% | Visibly less black smoke |
| Whipsaw Sport Fishing, Honolulu | USA | 35-ft boat, two Cat 3408 engines, 1-year test | 12.8% | Transom cleaning cut from every trip to weekly; 14-month payback |
| U.S. Navy, USS Independence (1997) | USA | Starboard main engine vs. port engine, Pearl Harbor to California | 151 fewer gallons | |
| Palermo Sociedad Portuaria (2023 sustainability report) | Colombia | Port project using our catalyst technology | — | Featured in the port's 2023 sustainability report |
Rail
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TasRail | Australia | 3 Progress Rail locomotives with Cat 3512 engines, 5 months; ECM data and emissions testing validated each other | 2.7–5.2%; 3.9% average | 2–3 month ROI; whole fleet being equipped |
| Adani | India | DLW ALCO WDG-3A locomotive | 6.6% | 4.3-month ROI |
| AAR-recognized laboratory (Engine Systems Development Center) | USA | Single-cylinder locomotive engine, 3-mode test | 7.0% at idle; 1.5% at 50% and 100% power | NOx −15.1%; PM −11.8% |
Buses
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latin American bus company | Latin America | 4 Scania Irizar i5 buses vs. 4 control buses, 7 months, about 200,000 km | 4.8% | 9-month payback; most of the fleet then equipped, with about $5.8M per year in savings reported |
| TransMilenio, Bogotá | Colombia | 16 Mercedes-Benz buses | 3.59% | 11-month payback |
| Arriva | Portugal | 10 Mercedes buses, mostly urban service | 4.4% | Soot −50%; 15-month payback |
| Bucharest public transit | Romania | City buses vs. buses without catalysts | 5.0% |
Government agencies and independent laboratories
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPA- and CARB-recognized engine emissions laboratory | USA | Cummins N-14, 100-hour dynamometer test | 7.3% (city), 10.3% (NYC bus cycle), 5.7% (highway) | NOx −14% to −21% |
| EPA- and CARB-recognized engine emissions laboratory | USA | Cummins 855 truck engine, 13-mode steady state | 6.0% | NOx −19.2%; PM −20%; CO −9% |
| Standards Institution of Israel (2023) | Israel | Government lab test | Up to 7.4% | CO −15% to −52%; NO2 −40%; PM2.5 −29% to −54%; no loss of engine performance |
| SGS (2016) | UAE (Dubai) | Forklifts | 17.05% | NOx −27.5%; CO −32.5% |
| U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center | USA | Navistar International 170 HP diesel engine | 3.6% | NOx −12%; CO −17.4%; HC −12.6% |
| Italian Ministry of Defence | Italy | Comprehensive testing | 5.2% | Smoke −12% to −18%; NOx −10% to −12% |
| City of Jonesboro, Arkansas | USA | 9 test vehicles, then all diesel vehicles (federal grant) | 6.74% (test); 7% (fleet) | |
| Missouri Department of Transportation | USA | 19 vehicles (Cat, Cummins, International, Perkins, Ford engines) | 3.8% | NOx −20.3%; opacity −59.4% |
| NYC Department of Environmental Protection | USA | Trucks with Cummins ISM 330 engines | — | CO −35%; NOx −26%; opacity (soot) −65% |
| Venezuelan Ministry of the Environment | Venezuela | Military vehicles, Caracas | 20% average | |
| Farm operation, São Paulo | Brazil | John Deere 8335R tractor | 7.1% | 9.5-month payback; 126% ROI |
Oil-fired boilers and furnaces
| Organization | Country | Equipment and test | Fuel result | Other reported results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everett Meredith Middle School (study paid for by the State of Delaware) | USA | Commercial boiler on No. 2 heating oil | 7.6% | NOx −13%; CO −4%; HC −13% |
| Major furnace manufacturer | USA | Furnace input-output efficiency study | 72.85% → 83.53% efficiency (about 15%) | |
| Nashoba Regional School District, Massachusetts | USA | School furnace, 2006–2007 | 26% | $9,650 saved in two months |
| HBL Power Systems, Vizianagaram | India | HFO-fired rotary furnace | 22.93% | |
| Hetero Labs, Hyderabad | India | Thermax 5-ton boiler | 20% | |
| Allied Nippon, Sahibabad | India | Thermax Thermopack | 10% | |
| Ameet Industries, Taloja | India | HFO-fired forging furnace, 2 burners | 9.5% | |
| Boiler users | India | Industrial boilers | 8% | |
| Ranbaxy Laboratories, Baddi | India | Thermax 3-ton boiler | 4.5% | |
| Passenger ship (Peace Boat) | Global | 28 catalysts on 4 ship furnaces | Reduced | Black smoke eliminated |
Want to see results like these on your own equipment? A typical test is a 30-minute installation, about 250 hours of conditioning, and a before-and-after fuel comparison, ideally against control machines. See how testing works.
Schedule A ConversationMining - 36
Trucking - 18
Generators - 16
Maritime/Ports - 11
Other Diesel - 12
Rail - 3
Busses - 4
Boilers/Furnaces - 11
Why Zelkam?
We have become a leader in applying this technology to the diesel equipment industry. Brian Livingston, our president, is a 40+ year Chemical Engineer that spent almost 20 years in Caterpillar's Diesel Engine Division. He has a wealth of experience to provide expert advice and guidance on this unique technology. We have saved customers millions of liters of diesel and many thousands of tons of CO2. Reach out and have an honest conversation with him about what it could mean for your operations.
