Additives for LSD........Real tests?

[Gary - K7GLD]

Lubricity additives are added at the terminals prior to shipment to the retail outlet.

I keep hearing the above statement (offered as though that SOLVED all lubricity issues... ) - and have a couple of questions/concerns.



FIRST, WHY is it necessary to "add lubricity additives" at the terminal - is there a difference in diesel lubricity standards and requirements for various uses that prevents simply providing that additive as part of the refining process?



Seems to me that "farming out" the addition of proper levels of additive is simply asking for random issues of poor quality control, as indifferent field personnel either fail to add the additives, or fail to add the proper quantities.



And, at which point in refining/distribution is the greatest quality control provided - is it easier for procedures to fall thru the cracks at the refinery - or at various points further on down the distribution chain?



For instance, I've been told by Pacific Pride reps that in their shipments, the delivery truck driver pours in a container of Power Service additive into a tanker load of diesel fuel. What about a PARTIAL tanker load? What if he forgets, or runs out of additive - will he stop delivery, and return to the terminal for more - or simply shrug his shoulders and dump his load at various stations, figuring there's enough additive remaining in the station tanks to provide additive strength - and besides, who will know, and will the delivery even be checked and verified for lubricity content?



Somehow, I don't find "Lubricity additives are added at the terminals prior to shipment to the retail outlet. " entirely reassuring...

 

[RWWinslow]

Following is 'why the lubricity additives are added at the pipeline terminal':



The lubricity additives used in the ULSD will render the water separators / fuel filters used on jet aircraft ineffective in a very short period of time. 'Ineffective' means that the water separators / fuel filters will not separate the water out of the jet fuel and they may not allow enough fuel to the engines to meet full throttle requirements after having been dosed with a very small amount of the lubricity additive. At jet aircraft cruising altitudes, even a few ppm of water can significantly inhibit fuel flow.



If the lubricity additive is put into the ULSD at the refinery and then pumped through the pipeline, enough of the lubricity additive will plate out on the pipeline walls and be picked up by subsequent shipments of jet fuel. To prevent this, shipments of ULSD with the lubricity additives is prohibited through the pipelines.



Exhaustive and very expensive testing was conducted on this issue in 2003 and 2004. The tests showed an almost 100% failure rate for jet fuel water separators / fuel filters dosed with the ULSD lubricity additive. Some types / concentration levels of additives were shown to shut down the water separators / fuel filters in a very short period of time.



The filter and additive industry is working on fixes to this problem - most of the refiners would prefer to add the lubricity additive at the refinery in the interest of quality control.



My work monitors the lubricity quality of the fuel (before the lubricity additive is added) via the HFRR wear scar test data. The lubricity quality of the fuel has been slowly improving over the past 6 months. It is also interesting to note that the Low Sulfur Diesel (500 PPM Sulfur Diesel) does not have appreciably better HFRR wear scar test data.



Contact me by cell if you have additional questions. . . . .

 

[RedRamAndy]

OK, now for my completely non-technical seat-o-the-pants input on this topic. :-laf My VE started leaking profusely right after the first few hours of run-time with ULSD. I added Lucas Upper Cylinder lube to the fuel and within 20 minutes of driving, it slowed to a drip every minute or two. This helped me to put off my reseal for a few weeks. Now that the pump is resealed with a Bosch kit, I still use the Lucas as a regular part of my fueling routine.

 

[HSpiering]

I have tried stanadyne four times in the past 3k miles. Test with and without on my 06 Dodge 4x4. I can find no difference with or with out. Also I see Dodge has notice out NOT to use additive in the 6. 7 motors.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I have tried stanadyne four times in the past 3k miles. Test with and without on my 06 Dodge 4x4. I can find no difference with or with out. Also I see Dodge has notice out NOT to use additive in the 6. 7 motors.

That is undoubtedly due to the EPA mandated emissions devices the new engines use, that can be damaged by use of some brands of fuel additives - I'm sure there are many brands that CAN be used successfuly - you just have to read the labels to determine which ones...

 

[DeezelDood]

My local Cummins shop recommends and sells Stanadyne. They are seeing the affects of ULSD on pumps they rebuild and really have nothing to gain from promoting this product. You'd be hard pressed to find a trucker that is not using one product or another.

 

[HSpiering]

I wonder if the year the truck was made makes a difference in the effects of stanadyne helping pumps??