On February 10, 2013, the ‘Fuel Combustion for Next Generation Engines' program (FUELCOM), a collaborative project between CCRC and Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company was inaugurated.

Fuels used today will be unsuitable for the engines of the future; pollution mitigation and a drive for higher efficiency will demand fuel combustion in increasingly extreme conditions.

The FUELCOM program aims to develop new hydrocarbon-based fuels which can withstand these demands. For example, low temperature combustion engines would require fuels that produce low emissions and have improved ignition. Investigations into using low grade, low cost fuel such as naphtha (volatile liquid hydrocarbon fuel) and low energy, viscous fuels are also underway.