Effect of Fuel Composition and Prestressing on Lubricity.
Abstract
Fuel lubricity--or the ability of the fuel to prevent wear during sliding-is sensitive to chemical composition. At present, increasingly severe fuel specifications are being implemented to minimize exhaust emissions. The refinery processes needed to achieve these goals are inadvertently removing many of the surface-active components necessary for wear resistance. To compound this effect, engine operating conditions are becoming more severe; fuel injection pressures are increasing dramatically, while uncooled engines that use the fuel as a heat sink are also being investigated. The present study investigates the relationship between previously validated laboratory-scale wear tests and various fuels' parameters. In general, fuel lubricity is found to be adversely affected by decreasing sulfur and aromatics content, and appears to be most closely related to diaromatics. Laboratory wear tests and full-scale equipment tests were performed to define the effects of operating temperature and thermal prestressing of the fuel. The effects of temperature on wear appear to be fuel composition sensitive. Indeed, the corrosion inhibitor additives tested had little effect at high temperatures. As a result, it is likely that conventional laboratory-scale wear tests performed at room temperature may not fully reflect real-world operating conditions. (AN)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA297747
Entities
People
- P. I. Lacey
- S. R. Westbrook
Organizations
- Southwest Research Institute