SAE TECHNICAL PAPER SERIES

2008-01-1600

Impact of Diesel Fuel Additives on Vehicle Performance

Rinaldo Caprotti
Infineum UK Ltd

Suzuki Takaharu and Dairaku Masahiro

Infineum Japan Ltd

2008 SAE International Powertrains, Fuels and Lubricants Congress Shanghai, China June 23-25, 2008
400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Tel: (724) 776-4841 Fax: (724) 776-0790 Web: www.sae.org

By mandate of the Engineering Meetings Board, this paper has been approved for SAE publication upon completion of a peer review process by a minimum of three (3) industry experts under the supervision of the session organizer. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of SAE. For permission and licensing requests contact: SAE Permissions 400 Commonwealth Drive Warrendale, PA 15096-0001-USA Email: permissions@sae.org Tel: 724-772-4028 Fax: 724-776-3036

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2008-01-1600

Impact of Diesel Fuel Additives on Vehicle Performance

Rinaldo Caprotti
Infineum UK Ltd

Suzuki Takaharu and Dairaku Masahiro

Infineum Japan Ltd
Copyright 2008 SAE International

ABSTRACT
A variety of additives are used in automotive diesel fuel to meet specification limits and to enhance quality. For example, lubricity additives and cold flow improvers are used to meet specifications whilst diesel detergents further enhance the quality of the fuel. Recently, several premium fuels that use high levels of diesel detergents and, in some cases, cetane improver have been introduced in the market place. The purpose of the work carried out was to assess the potential impact of these additives on vehicle performance. In order to do this, a fuel free of any additive was treated with very high levels of all the diesel fuel additives currently used to meet specification limits and to enhance diesel fuel performance. A common rail vehicle using an advanced common rail system was then driven in a controlled manner for 50.000 km. Emissions and driveability tests took place at 0km to provide baseline data. Further tests were then performed at 15.000km and 50.000km to determine any changes from the baseline data. Moreover, every 5000km the vehicle/engine parameters were assessed via ECU interrogation. Test fuel analyses were carried out every 10.000km, sampling the fuel from the vehicle tank. At the end of the test a full investigation of the fuelling system was undertaken. The results indicated that the use of the diesel fuel additives at high treat rates did not have any impact on the fuel injection equipment (FIE), the vehicle performance or the fuel itself. This would indicate that high levels, and indeed standard treat rates, of the additive technologies tested are harm free in the field.

Recently, several premium fuels that use high levels of diesel detergents and, in some cases, cetane improver have been introduced in the market place.

OBJECTIVES OF THE TEST PROGRAMME

In the referenced literature several examples where the use of additives has generated field problems are reported, reference 3, 4, 5. Moreover, another reference shows that combination of fuel additives, that by themselves are harm free in the field, can also generate field issues. Such eventualities may increase with the current trend towards increases in treat rates of some additives. Therefore, this programme was aimed at looking at combining all the typical fuel additives when used in the field at high treat rates. A vehicle with advanced common rail fuel injection equipment was selected and a fuel treated with high levels of fuel additives was then run using a severe test cycle. Checks were carried out during the test and at the end of the mileage accumulation step in order to assess the impact that high doses of additives might have on the emissions, driveability and condition of the FIE.

3. TEST PROGRAME DETAILS

The vehicle selected was fitted with an advanced common rail fuel injection system. This vehicle was then run for 50.000 km and tested at regular intervals for emissions and driveability. A set schedule was followed during the mileage accumulation to assist with the repeatability of the driveability and emissions results. 3.1 VEHICLE SELECTION The vehicle selected was a Toyota Land Cruiser Automatic equipped with a 3.0 litre D-4D Common Rail Turbo diesel engine. 3.2 TEST FUEL The same test fuel was used throughout the testing. This fuel was obtained from a refinery and had some specific features:

INTRODUCTION
A variety of additives are used in automotive diesel fuel to meet specification limits and to enhance quality, reference 1, 2. For example, lubricity additives and cold flow improvers are used to meet specifications whilst diesel detergents further enhance the quality of the fuel.

x x x

Free of any additive Low Sulphur European type fuel

3.4 TEST PROCEDURE Before the test procedure was commenced, the vehicle first underwent a general engine inspection which included fluid levels, tyre pressures and ECU interrogation. Although the vehicle was new, an initial run-in was performed. Therefore, a full fuel system flush was carried out before each test phase in order to maintain the same boundary conditions for each subsequent phase of testing. During this flush procedure the old fuel was drained from the tank and a new fuel filter was also fitted. Then, the vehicle was filled with 5 litres of the new test fuel and run for 5 minutes. After this procedure the tank was drained and refilled with test fuel. The vehicle was then fully prepared to start the test programme. The vehicle was loaded with 330 kg, equivalent to the weight of four passengers and 50 kg of luggage. After every 5000 km there was full ECU Interrogation. In order to do this, an ECU reader was fitted. Data of over 80 different parameters were captured. If the vehicle/engine parameters measured and recorded were within specification, then the mileage accumulation would continue. If the parameters were outside specification, then the data were collated, in order to be shared with the vehicle manufacturer to understand the impact on engine/vehicle performance. 3.5 MILEAGE ACCUMULATION A set schedule was followed during the mileage accumulation to assist with the repeatability of the driveability and emissions results. The protocols used are a replication of real world driving, aimed primarily at reproducing the driving environment of Europe. The procedure was constructed from two different modules each simulating a specific road type: A UK Motorway driving that simulates motorway driving in the United Kingdom and has an average speed of 80 km/h. B Urban driving that simulates urban driving in Europe and has an average speed of 24 km/h. The mileage accumulation sequence consisted of 3 x A and 2 x B, with an average speed of 55km/h and was run as follows: B A A A B 3.6 EMISSIONS MEASUREMENT Regulated emissions tests were performed at intervals of 0km, 15,000km and 50,000km. As an additional control step, the vehicle was matched to a set of coastdown times (supplied by the vehicle manufacturer) before each set of emissions tests to eliminate any changes in the vehicles drivetrain characteristics that could have occurred during mileage accumulation. As a vehicle accumulates miles, the condition of the gearbox, braking system or tyres will change. This in turn will affect the emissions of the vehicle. By performing a

The specification of the fuel is in Appendix 1 Throughout the testing, the quality of the diesel fuel was periodically tested to assess whether any changes were occurring. Moreover, a set of analyses were also done on fuel sampled from the vehicle tank. The fuel assessment was carried out approximately every 10,000 kilometres and the sample was obtained when the fuel tank was close to tankful. The following tests were then carried out on the sample: TAN, Peroxide number and metal contents including Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni, P, Ca, Na, Si, K, Mn, Ce, 3.3 ADDITIVE SELECTION The fuel was supplied in drums to the test site. Each drum was then dosed with the diesel fuel additives. These had been previously blended in aromatic solvent to ensure easy and complete dissolution in fuel. Each drum also underwent further mixing prior to use. The purpose of the work was to understand the impact that diesel fuel additives could have on the vehicle performance, particularly the FIE system. Therefore, all the types of additives that can be present in diesel fuel were added at the maximum treat rate used in the market place. The only exception to this was cetane improver. The diesel fuel being used for this testing already has an excellent cetane value. The addition of a cetane improver, particularly at high market treating levels, would have resulted in a fuel with a cetane value not seen in the market place, and thus an unrepresentative fuel. This may have limited the value of the testing carried out, hence the decision was taken not to dope the test fuel with cetane improver. The additives used in the test were: x Diesel detergent Used increasingly in the market place to ensure that the FIE remains free of any deposit x Demulsifiers Used to counteract water interaction associated with the use of diesel detergents x Anticorrosion additive Useful to protect any metallic surface from the attack of water x Ester based lubricity additive Added to fuel to ensure that the FIE does not suffer any wear problem associated with the use of low sulphur diesel fuel Cold flow additives Used by necessity in most diesel fuels, particularly in winter, to ensure harms free operations at low ambient temperatures

"match" to a set of known times, any variance in drivetrain characteristics is eliminated. The vehicle was matched to the target times very closely throughout the test programme. From each of these coastdown times, sets of dynamometer coefficients were generated. Figure 1 shows these sets of coefficients plotted as Force against Vehicle Speed. The coefficients for the 0km and 15,000km tests were very close to one another, indicating that the vehicles drivetrain characteristics did no change. At 50,000km the coefficients indicate that the vehicles drivetrain characteristics had changed during the mileage accumulation period between 15,000km and 50,000km. However, by comparing the coastdown times at 50,000km with the target times, and by studying the 1second modal Carbon Dioxide data for all of the tests, it was seen that there was good repeatability across the whole of Phase 1, and that the vehicle was correctly matched. Figure 1
Dynamometer Match Comparison
1000
Test 0km 15000km 50000km F0 115.7 117.2 127.4 Dynamometer Coefficients F1 F2 -2.251 0.084243 -2.169 0.084205 -1.441 0.075110 F3 -0.00010884 -0.00010777 -0.00006953

3.7 ECU INTERROGATION Every 5,000 kilometres (+/- 100 kilometres) the vehicle was taken to the workshop to fit an ECU reader. This allowed an assessment of the vehicle/engine parameters measured and recorded: x If the parameters were within specification, then the vehicle was considered fit to continue the mileage accumulation x If the parameters were outside the specification range, then the OEM had to be contacted before continuing mileage accumulation

4 RESULTS
The vehicle was run by experienced drivers throughout the mileage accumulation. The drivers did not experience any change in driveability and vehicle performance. These observations were confirmed when comparing the data obtained at 0km, 15,000km and at 50,000km at the end of the test 4.1 EMISSIONS TESTING Two emissions tests were performed at each stage of the programme to ensure that each result was representative. However, the results could have been made more statistically robust by performing a greater number of tests at each interval.

900

800

700

600 Force (N)

500

400

300

200

100

0km Dyno Force

0 0 20 40

15000km Dyno force

60 Vehicle Speed (km/h) 80

50000km Dyno Force

100 120

4.1.1 Cold-Start Test Results Figure 2 shows the averaged emissions results for the cold-start tests performed at 0km, 15,000km and 50,000km intervals. The changes for each pollutant over the course of 50,000km were: x a significant increase in CO and PM, of 114.3% and 175.5% respectively x in contrast, there was a decrease in NOx of 5.9% x a 2.5% decrease in CO2 was also observed, which contributed to a 2.4% decrease in fuel consumption x HC emissions were at very low levels for this test programme and any change over the 50,000km is clearly negligible. Figure 2
Summary Graph of
Pollutant (g/km), Fuel Consumption (l/100km) 0.500 0.450 0.400 0.350 0.300 0.250 0.200 0.150 0.100 0.050 0.000 HC+NOx HC CO NOx (CO2)/1000 PM (l/100km)/100 Baseline - 0km Cold Test Average 15000km Cold Test Average 50000km Cold Test Average

Additional work was carried out to ensure that the test results could be compared across test phases. In order to do this, comparisons of the driven cycle and force on the dynamometer were made for each test. The driven cycle for each completed test compared very well with that of the target drive trace and all the tests followed the target trace to within +/- 2km/h. x The emissions measurements followed this sequence: x Preconditioning (3xEUDC). Then, Coastdown and Match x Overnight Soak x Cold Test 1: Tailpipe 98/69/EC (NEDC) x 5 minute warm up @ 60 kph before hot-start test x Hot-Start Test 1: Tailpipe 98/69/EC (NEDC) x Coastdown check 125 - 15 kph x Overnight Soak x Cold Test 2: Tailpipe 98/69/EC (NEDC) x 5 minute warm up @ 60 kph before hot-start test x Hot-Start Test 2: Tailpipe 98/69/EC (NEDC) x Coastdown check 125 - 15 kph This protocol allowed two sets of regulated emissions and hot emissions to be obtained and these enabled the indication of any changes that may have occurred during the 50,000km mileage accumulation.

4.1.2 Hot-Start Results Figure 3 shows the averaged emissions results for the hot-start tests performed at 0km, 15,000km and 50,000km intervals. The changes for each pollutant over the course of 50,000km were: x An increase of 70.1% over 50,000km for Pm x NOx emissions had a downward trend, decreasing by 2.9% x CO2 remained the same as the baseline tests x Due to the low levels of HC and CO during the hot-start test, the changes shown in figure 2 should be classed as negligible. Figure3
Summary Graph of Results
Pollutant (g/km), Fuel Consumption (l/100km)
0.500 0.450 0.400 0.350 0.300 0.250 0.200 0.150 0.100 0.050 0.000 HC+NOx HC CO NOx (CO2)/1000 PM (l/100km)/100 Baseline - 0km Hot Test Average 15000km Hot Test Average 50000km Hot Test Average

Table 1
10k test TAN mg KOH/g <0.05 Fe ppm <DL Cu ppm <DL Zn ppm <DL Ni ppm <DL P ppm 2 Ca ppm 3 Na ppm <DL Si ppm <DL K ppm <DL Mn ppm <DL Ce ppm NA S ppm 28 Peroxide mg/kg 1.75 <DL Below detection limit 20k <0.05 <DL <DL <DL <DL 3 <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL NA 33 1.8 Distance 30k 40k <0.05 <0.05 <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL 2 <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL 1 <DL <DL <DL <DL NA NA 23 42 2.1 1.15 50k <0.05 <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL <DL 1 <DL NA 12 1.2

4.3 FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM ANALYSIS At the end of the mileage accumulation, the fuel injection system was dismantled and each component was rated. The type of analysis ranged from visual assessment (see the photo of the dismantled injectors in Appendix 2) to a full review of the components carried out by the vehicle manufacturer, Appendix 3. All the analysis and observations give the same conclusions; the mileage accumulation done using a severe driving cycle, with a loaded vehicle and high levels of fuel additives has not caused any harm to the fuel injection system. The consistency of fuel injection system performance is also confirmed by testing carried out to assess the injector sprays. Figure 4 clearly demonstrates that the sprays at the end of the mileage accumulation phase are essentially as they look for new unused injectors. Figure 4

4.2 FUEL ANALYSIS RESULTS Throughout the testing the quality of the diesel fuel was assessed to understand whether any changes were occurring. A set of analyses were carried out on fuel sampled from the vehicle tank when at approximately tank full. The results indicate that there was no change in the fuel during the mileage accumulation step. Sampling from the tank allowed a continuous monitoring of wear or degradation induced by the interaction between the fuel and fuel additives with the vehicle. The data showed that all parameters measured were essentially constant confirming harm free operations, table 1. It is worth noting that several papers have shown that metals can accumulate in the fuel due the interaction between acid lubricity additives and the fuel system, and this is particularly true for Zn. The data here show that there is no Zn accumulation as one would expect when using ester based lubricity additives, ref 7,8. This result is a further confirmation that the selection of the right additive chemistry allows harm-free field operations regardless of the treat level used.

4.4 ECU Data Every 5,000 kilometres (+/- 100 kilometres) the vehicle was taken to the workshop to fit an ECU reader. This

allowed an assessment of the vehicle/engine parameters to be measured and recorded. All the parameters remained within the specification throughout the test.

performance or the fuel itself. This would indicate that high levels, and indeed standard treat rates, of the additive technologies tested are harm free in the field.

REFERENCES 5. DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

The data obtained on the test fuel show that there has been essentially no changes throughout this test. The use of ester based lubricity additive is possibly one of the reasons. References 6, 7 and 8 indicate that the use of this type of lubricity additive chemistry is harm free even in the most severe FIE environments. These findings have been confirmed in our test programme. The analysis of the fuel injection system clearly indicates that no detrimental effects have been observed. This applies to the pump, fuel lines, injector body, injector spray holes and the nozzle tip. Again, the use of ester based lubricity additive provides a further confirmation of the findings reported in reference 9. This paper reports that the use of high levels of detergent could lead to the formation of internal injector deposits under certain conditions. However, again as reported in the reference, the use of ester based lubricity additive has helped prevent the possible formation of this type of deposits. Emissions levels have changed during the mileage accumulation period. As the fuel itself has not shown any sign of degradation and the FIE is free of any deposits or wear, this would support to the fact that the change in emissions level should be attributable to the change of the test vehicle characteristics. Further discussion with the vehicle manufacturer confirmed that the increase in Pm is typical for this type of vehicle when used in severe driving conditions and that this is the reason for the change in emission levels. The vehicle manufacturer also carried out an in-depth analysis of the data generated during these tests. Their conclusions support those stated herein that the use of high treat level of additives has been shown to be harm free and the increase in emissions is attributable to the change in vehicle characteristics. 1. Diesel additive technology effects on injector hole erosion/corrosion, injector fouling and particulate traps. R Caprotti. WJ Fowler, G Lepperhoff, M Houben. SAE 932739 2. Additive approach to diesel emissions control. R Caprotti, GP Gaskill, AK Smith. No90069, SIA - June 1990 3. Effect of diesel fuel additives on engine performance & reliability, Part 2. J Matsudaria, M Okada, H Naruse, 1997 JSAE 4. Harm free use of diesel fuel additives. R Caprotti, SAE 982569 5. Diesel fuel lubricity. M Nikanjam, P Lacey, R Caprotti, P Henderson, K Mitchell, D Simeroth. 8th Fuel and Lube Asian Conference, February 2002. 6. Injector Deposit Test For Modern Diesel Engines" O. Graupner, T. Klaua - Siemens VDO Automotive AG, R. Caprotti, A. Breakspear - Infineum UK, A. Schik, C. Rouff - APL Automobil Prueftechnik Landau Gmh. TAE Symposium, 2005. 7. Caprotti, R.: Breakspear, A.: Graupner, O.: Klaua, T.: Detergency requirements of future diesel injection systems, SAE 2005-01-3901. 8. Caprotti, R.: Leedham, A.: Graupner, O.: Klaua, T.: Impact of Fuel Additives on Diesel Injector Deposits, SAE 2004-01-2935. 9. Investigation into the formation and prevention of internal injector deposits. Jrg Ullmann, Marion Geduldig, Heinz Stutzenberger, Rinaldo Caprotti, Graham Balfour

APPENDIX 1
Fuel Specification

PROPERTY (UNITS)
Cetane number*

RESULT
52.9 0.8316 276.0 318.5 331.5

METHOD
D613 D4052 D86

CONCLUSION
Diesel fuel additives are used in automotive diesel fuel to meet specification limits and to enhance quality. Recently, several premium fuels that use high levels of diesel additives have been introduced in the market place. The work carried out assessed the potential impact of these additives at high treat rates on the performance of a common rail vehicle using an advanced common rail system. The results indicated that the use of the diesel fuel additives at high treat rates did not have any impact on the fuel injection equipment (FIE), the vehicle

Density @ 15C, g/ml Distillation, C 50% Vol Point 90% Vol Point 95% Vol Point Viscosity @ 40 C, mm /sec Polycyclic Aromatic, %mass* Aromatic content, % vol Sulphur Content, mg/kg * Water Content, mg/kg * Neutralization (Strong Acid) Number (mg KOH/g) * CFPP Lubricity, um* Oxidation Stability, mg/100ml *
2

3.20 2.50 13.7 25 25

D445 IP391 D1319 IP373 D1744

Nil -22 542 <0.1

D974 EN 116 ISO 12156-1 D2274

APPENDIX 2
Injector Body, Tip and disassembly

APPENDIX 3
Fuel Pump Components: Camshaft, Plunger Tappet, Ring Cam and Needle Valve