Exhaust CO₂-Based Fuel Consumption Derivation for Diesel Fleet Maintenance Diagnostics

This technical reference presents a methodology for deriving real-time fuel consumption rates from exhaust carbon-dioxide concentration measurements in diesel engines, grounded in the stoichiometric carbon-balance principles codified in ISO 8178, SAE J1003, and 40 CFR Part 1065.

Field validation is presented from a controlled deployment at a surface coal mine, where three independent measurement methods — a carbon-balance-derived fuel rate, fill-to-fill volumetric measurement supervised by the engine OEM's field-engineering team, and ECM-reported fuel rate — were compared on the same five-engine fleet. The carbon-balance-derived rate tracks physical fill-to-fill measurement, while ECM estimates diverge by up to 17%.

The methodology has been implemented in a diagnostic platform that combines exhaust emission profiles with engine operating parameters to generate prescriptive maintenance diagnostics across all diesel OEMs and EPA emission tiers. The platform's validated field corpus comprises 124 engines with 3,058 emission tests captured to date across three continents.

Published by Starboard Research — a segment of Starboard Investment, LLC. Protected under US Patent 10,718,284 B2 and Indian Patent 553,370.