Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) ULSD lubricity + additives study

[timbo]

Here is some good research i found about ulsd and diff. additives! Some of you maybe shocked at how some of the "lubricity" adders really don't work well.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177728

 

[MFranz]

Timbo,

Great post. Thanks for sharing.



Happy New Year

Mike

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Here is some good research i found about ulsd and diff. additives! Some of you maybe shocked at how some of the "lubricity" adders really don't work well.

Lubricity Additive Study Results - Diesel Place

MMO lovers must really love this result:

17)Marvel Mystery Oil

Gas, oil and Diesel fuel additive (NOT ULSD compliant, may damage 2007 and newer systems)

HFRR 678, 42 microns worse than baseline fuel.

320:1 ratio

10. 4 oz/tank

$3. 22/tank

I suspect automatic transmission fluid is about the same... :-laf:-laf

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

MMO lovers must really love this result:



I suspect automatic transmission fluid is about the same... :-laf:-laf

LOL Gary. . . you have to wonder how good it really is considering the stuff has been around for almost forever. Here's the old familiar metal can in a 1952 ad:

Modern Mechanix » MARVEL Mystery Oil



I have seen ads for it in magazines from the '40s. I don't know about MMO but lubrication has come a long way since then



Vaughn

 

[RCook]

Interesting that the poster "Spicer" seems to have had a part in the study:



"Only Spicer Research held the key to the additives in each bottle. "



There's little detail on who did this work, or demonstrating how fair and credible a study it is.



Everything I've read says that diesel providers have already added lubricity enhancers to ULSD, but the post suggests that it's reasonable to start with ULSD with no such additives, and then compare how much various additives helped lubricity. Results from this sort of analysis are not necessarily meaningful, if commercially available diesels already have lubricity added.



The post suggests that sometimes untreated fuel gets out to the pumps - what evidence is there to support this?

 

[RWWinslow]

In late 2006 and early 2007 I was the engineering project lead for an extensive engineering research project through the Idaho National Laboratory reagarding ULSD, lubricity and a number of additional ULSD technical issues. The primary driver behind this research was to determine the potential impact of this fuel on emergency / standby power generation and fire pump diesel engines. These engines are used in nuclear power plants, hospitals, emergency communications dispatch centers, etc. (In other words if the lights go out these engines have to run and stay running. ) Secondary driver / purpose behind this study was to ***** any impacts on the transportation sector for rolling stock diesel engines.



In summary, after site visits and reviews of testing reports the INL study determined that it is extremely difficult to ship diesel fuel out of a pipeline terminal without lubricity additive. Multiple physical interloks and procedural interlocks exist to prevent this from happening. The probability of shipping diesel fuel without lubricity additive was calculated to be less than one in 10 million. (It is more likely that gasoline or another product might be loaded into a transport and put into the wrong tank at the station. ) The INL study also determined that the pipelines and fuel manufacturers regularly test their fuel's repsonse to lubricity additive and adjust dosage rate accordingly.



The INL study also looked at lubricity additive chemistry and some of the tribology surrounding diesel lubricity. It is a very complicated tribological function - the lubrication of a main crank bearing or in an engine or a transmission gear is not the same as the lubrication of a rotating injection pump system. In other words, conventional reciprocating engine / transmission lubricants (two cycle oil, ATF, engine oil, etc. ) will not properly lubricate an injection system with ULSD.



The INL study found that the ULSD lubricity additives are very unique molecular compounds and that each one has different mixing requirements, dose response levels, etc.



The ULSD lubricity additive study referenced in this thread raises more questions than answers. For example, mixing methods / temperatures are not identified, the base fuel is not identified, fuel additive dose response curves / levels are not identified, etc.



I currently work at a refinery that manufactures ULSD. We add lubricity additive at our truck transport racks as it is loaded onto the trucks. We rigorously test lubricity of the product and to date have not found any problems.



Adding additional lubricity additive at fill up is a personal decision. Will it enhance lubricity and therefore enhance engine reliability? - This is unknown. Will the additive do any harm? - again this is an unknown. Is the additive needed for additional cold flow improvement or some other fuel propety enhancement? - all of this will weigh in to the decision on whether to additize or buy as is.

 

[Ram4Sam]

For curiosity's sake, how many gallons of additive go into a 9000 gal+/- truck/trailer load of fuel?



Sam

 

[roperteacher]

This study has been out a few months now...

 

[Hitec.Redneck]

I had the opportunity to visit the West Coast and visit several oil and gas pipeline and distribution terminals. It was a very interesting and quite a learning experience. At our distribution terminals ( where they load the gas and diesel in the 18 wheelers ) all the mixing of additives are done when the product is loaded in the truck at the racks. They use metering gauges that insert the proper amounts as the fuel is entering the truck. This included Ethanol, and all the additives and octane for all three grades of gasoline. I also learned when Ethanol is added to gasoline the molecules that bond it with the fuel create an increase in volume and we measure the fuel before the ethanol is added so wen the truck is completely loaded, it has actually more fuel in it than was measured.

Pretty interesting stuff, I got to see a turbine engine that runs a pump on a 20" pipeline and see how they calibrate all the instruments that measure the flow, volume and pressure of product running through the pipes.