YOUR DIESEL FUEL HAS RADICALLY CHANGED
YOUR FUEL RELATED ISSUES HAVE RADICALLY CHANGED
Your fuel contains a lot more water than ever before (formation of gums, varnish, carbon, cold weather ice formation/filter clogging, piston pitting, injector damage, corrosion and more)
Your fuel has much less lubricity - injector, pump and engines will fail from wear much sooner
Your fuel has 3 - 6% less BTUs - lower fuel mileage, higher fuel costs
Your fuel is much less stable thermally and less stable to oxidation
Your fuel contains traces of chemicals used to crack crude oil that can be re-activated by high fuel temperatures causing black asphaltene clogging of fuel filters in 3,000 miles or less
Your traditional diesel additives are ineffective or much less effective for cold weather properties
New injector designs and EGRs require advanced cleaning packages
SO WE RADICALLY CHANGED DIESEL FUEL ADDITIVES
For information specific to your vehicle choose from this list. For general information continue reading.
Cat
Cummins
Detroit Diesel
Duramax
Ford Powerstroke 7.3 l
Ford Powerstroke 6.0 l
Ford Powerstroke 6.4 l
Mack
Mercedes-Benz
Volvo
OUR DIESEL PRODUCT USAGE OVERVIEW
Use this simple product guide for to limit the problems you experience and to extend the life of your equipment in the ULSD, bio-fuel era:
Cold Weather/Year Around Use with B5 - B11 Diesel Fuel (5 – 11% bio-diesel)
EnerTech Labs - Complete Fuel Treatment
•Converts #2 pump diesel into ASTM Premium spec diesel fuel
•Provides Lubricity to meet or exceed all OEM Specifications
•Provides anti-gel protection - will lower CFPP 25°F to 35°F
• Eliminates Water - both dissolved and free water
•Improves fuel injector cleanliness to meet or exceed Cummins L-10 specification
•Inhibits corrosion to meet or exceed Cummins N-14 specification
•Improves oxidative stability
•Improves thermal stability
•Raises Cetane 4 to 6 points
•Dissolves gums, varnishes, and carbon deposits and prevent new ones from forming
•Acts to protect seals and gaskets
•Neutralizes Acids
Address Gelled Fuel in Fuel Tank and Fuel System
EnerTech Labs - Thaw-It
A unique blend of organic and petroleum solvents to dissolve wax and ice crystals
Thaw-It will when used as directed, begins to work within 20 minutes and will completely re-liquefy the fuel in the entire system.
Thaw-It can be safely used in #1, #2, #4, and #6 fuels.
Contains NO: Chlorinated Solvents, Methanol or other Harmful Alcohols.
Cold Weather/Year Around Use of B20 – B50 Diesel Fuel (20 -50% bio-diesel)
EnerTech Labs - EnerFlo 20 •Proprietary formulation based on proven technologies.
•Twin technologies treat both biofuel and petro-diesel components of biodiesel.
•Provides excellent cold weather protection for both components (petro-diesel and bio-diesel) of blended biodiesel. Provides significant CFPP improvement, lowering it between 15F and 30F.
•Provides dramatically increased stability for biodiesel.
•Slows oxidation and breakdown of blended biofuels.
•Eliminates water through hydrogen polar bonding
•Inhibits bacterial and fungal growth in biodiesel without use of pesticides.
•"A“ rated corrosion inhibitor to reduce engine and storage tank corrosion.
•Reduces or eliminates formation of gums, varnishes, and carbon in the fuel system.
•Dramatically slows sludge formation in engine oil.
Warm Weather Operations
EnerTech Labs - EnerFuel with Lubricity
•Adds lubricity to diesel fuels to meet or exceed B.O.C.L.E., S.L.B.O.C.L.E., and or H.F.R.R. requirements
•Helps clean fuel injectors and pumps
•Improves fuel atomization for greater efficiency and more power
•Eliminates water from fuel using advanced hydrogen polar bonding technology
Address Water Issues in a Storage Tank
EnerTech Labs - EnerFuel
•Powerful fuel system cleaner - dissolves the gum, varnish, and carbon deposits •EnerFuel causes the fuel to be atomized better by the fuel injectors for more efficient combustion and reduced emissions
•Chemically removes the water found in all diesel using advanced hydrogen polar bonding technology - EnerFuel will eliminate its own volume in water.
•EnerFuel slows the oxidation of fuel, thereby stabilizing it. It also provides
•Contains a cetane improver for easier starting.
•EnerFuel contains no harmful alcohols that can damage gaskets and seals .
Address Fuel System Deposits (Injectors, turbos, EGR) Affecting Engine Operation
EnerTech Labs - Inject-R-Clean
•Highly concentrated formula that meets or exceeds engine manufacturers deposit and corrosion inhibition standards
•Reduces smoke and emissions in one treatment
•Removes gum, varnish, and carbon from fuel Injectors to restore proper spray pattern
•Increases power and throttle response
Address Oil System Deposits (Especially for HEUI Systems)
EnerTech Labs - eFlush and EOA
•Dissolve existing deposits in oil system, especially in the injectors (HEUI)
•Restore lost power and eliminate rough engine operation and poor mileage
THE KEY FACTS ABOUT DIESEL THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR TROUBLE FREE OPERATION
Bio-Diesel Issues •Biodiesel is referred to as a diesel equivalent and peanut oil was used for the first engine designed and built by Rudolph Diesel.
•Biodiesel is defined as alkyl esters made from transesterfication (removal of glycerin) of vegetable oils or animal fats.
•Biodiesel is not diesel fuel; it is chemically very different from petroleum derived fuels.
•Users of biodiesel need to educate themselves and to make changes in order to successfully use it.
•The biodiesel issues to be addressed are:
• It oxidizes much more quickly than petroleum diesel - more easily form gums, varnishes, and carbon deposits - it can make the vehicle harder to start, and reduces power output.
• It has storage problems - can significantly break down chemically in as little as 60 days
• It has far less thermal stability than petroleum diesel - storage at any temperature over 85°F can accelerate this process
• It holds up to 10 times as much dissolved water as petroleum diesel
• It is a powerful solvent that will delaminate rubber hoses, deteriorate seals and gaskets, and damage many types of sensors and solvency can cause rapid filter plugging
• Biodiesel has significant cold weather problems - can cloud at 50°F, gel at 20°F-40°F, and become solid at 10°F-30°F - Biodiesel’s cold flow properties are not improved by standard petroleum diesel fuel anti-gel products
• Biodiesel grows bacteria and fungi at dramatically increased rates over regular diesel
Water Issues
•Water is an issue with ULSD for two reasons:
Water introduced into the fuel during its refining
Water dissolved into the fuel during storage
•Water in fuel does more engine damage than all other fuel issues combined. Failure to address water issues will result in:
The formation of gums and varnish deposits in the fuel system and combustion chamber leading to inefficient operation
Corrosion of engine and injector parts
More bacterial and fungal growth in the fuel
Decreased combustion efficiency
Damage to pistons and injectors (cavitation from high pressure hydrogen explosions)
Cold weather problems from ice formation
•To achieve ultra low levels of sulfur in diesel the fuel is hydro-treated as a secondary operation - the result is a higher initial level of water in the fuel even before water is attracted during shipping, storage, and while in the fuel tank.
•Petroleum and bio-based fuels are hygroscopic, meaning they attract and hold water dissolved within the fuel. Diesel fuel can hold .1%, bio-diesel up to 1% - 10 times more!
•In storage tanks fuel is heated by the sun expanding its volume and forces air out of tank vent – temperature then cools creating a vacuum drawing air in through the tank vent carrying with it water vapor and bacterial and fungal spores
•Water is generated through the fuel recirculation process - fuel is pumped from the tank to the engine where it is heated to 160°F - 220°F and unused fuel returned to the tank - hot fuel back into relatively cooler fuel causes condensation - possible to generate several ounces of water per hour.
Cold Weather Issues
•New cold weather difficulties have arisen with the introduction of ULSD.
•#2 LSD fuel contains a significant amount of paraffin wax which contains a lot of energy (Btu’s) and adds viscosity and lubricity to diesel fuels, and causes cold weather problems
•As the fuel gets colder the wax crystals grow in size until they become visible (cloud point (CP)), then begin to interfere with each other, inhibit the movement of the fuel (cold filter plug point (CFPP)), and finally grow together turning into a semi-solid (pour point (PP)).
•#1 LSD fuel, kerosene, or Jet A fuel (all lower in paraffin wax) have been used to improve cold weather properties - for every 10% of the lighter weight fuel used, CFPP and PP could be lowered by 5 degrees F
•New EPA ULSD rules allow for only the use of #1 ULSD or low sulfur additives to achieve improved cold weather properties. #1 ULSD DOES NOT ACHIEVE THE SAME BENEFITS AS #1 LOW SULFUR DIESEL & IT IS NOT COST EFFECTIVE.
•#1 ULSD has lower aromatic levels and lower solvency and a 10% blend will improve CFPP and PP by only 2 – 3 degrees instead of 5 degrees. A 50 – 50 blend previously would drop CFPP and PP by 25 degrees but now will only decrease it by 10 – 15 degrees or less. Some traditional additives, according to testing, WILL HAVE NO MEASUREABLE IMPROVEMENT IN CP, CFPP and PP of ULSD fuels.
•Previously, blending with kerosene or Jet A could achieve the desired cold weather properties with little additional cost, blending with #1 ULSD can increase costs by $0.30/gallon or more.
•ULSD holds more d
issolved water than LSD, which causes ice formation below 32 degrees.
•Fuel distributors have been trying to achieve cold weather properties with greater amounts of traditional cold flow improvers/anti-gel additives. The problem is that excessive anti-gel additive will actually worsen the gel-point, and the fuel filters will become plugged with the additive (will appear reddish-pink wax-like substance).
The wax crystals seen on the left are the crystal structures found in low sulfur diesel (LSD)
The structure is small and cylindrical
The wax crystals seen below are those found in ultra low sulfur diesel - they are much bigger and shaped like blocks
Anti-gell means an additive that is designed to allow the wax crystals in the fuel to move without being bound up with each other
Do you think that additives that were designed to work on the LSD wax crystals will work on ULSD wax crystals? They don't
Asphaltene Production in Some ULSD
•The production of ULSD fuels at some refiners involves a process called catalytic cracking where chemical catalysts are used to refine the crude.
•The fuels derived from this process can have a number of problems including oxidative and thermal stability.
•A loss of fuel stability is shown in several ways:
•Increased ability to hold dissolved water
•Increased oxidation of the fuel
•Decrease in ability to handle higher temperatures over time
•Diesel engines re-circulate fuel to lubricate and cool the fuel system and engine components
•Previous engine designs recirculated fairly large volumes of fuel and this tended to keep temperatures lower - 140°F to 160°F - newer engines can heat that fuel to temperatures that can exceed 200°F reaching even 220°F.
•When some catalytically derived fuels are exposed to temperatures above 100°F for extended periods of time the catalytic process starts up again, re-polymerizing parts of the fuel.
•This results in rapid deterioration and darkening of the fuel - In this process small droplets of asphaltenes (heavy oils) are formed.
•When the fuel is again pumped from the tank, the fuel filters will pick up the asphaltene droplets, until the filter or filters are plugged - This can happen in as little as 3000 to 5000 miles with some instances of plugging in less than 1000 miles.
Lubricity Issues
•Lubricity - the ability of the fluid to reduce the friction between surfaces that are under load. This ability reduces the damage that can be caused by friction.
•Sulfur is an Extreme Pressure (EP) Lubricant and provides a significant portion of the lubricity previously found in diesel fuels. Lubricity is an important consideration when using low sulfur fuels. Lubricity can be replaced or enhanced with additives, but these additives must be compatible with the fuel and with any additives already found in the fuel.
•Lubricity in Untreated Diesel Fuels
•Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) required HFRR is 460 to avoid engine damage
•High Sulfur #2 Diesel HFRR 350-390
•Low Sulfur #2 Diesel HFRR 390-500
•Ultra-Low Sulfur #2 Diesel HFRR 600-800
•Ultra-Low Sulfur #1 Diesel HFRR 700-900
•ASTM Minimum Requirement of HFRR 520 at the pump – does not meet engine manufacturer’s requirement
•ULSD #1 or #2 with Complete Fuel Treatment reduces the HFRR to 390-460 – meet the engine manufacturer’s requirement
•The HFRR is a controlled reciprocating friction and wear test system which provides a fast, repeatable assessment of the performance of fuels and lubricants. The number is referred to as a “Scar Diameter”. The diameter of the scar caused by testing grows larger with less lubricity. In other words the higher the HFRR number, the lower the lubricity of the fuel.
•The Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) specifies HFRR 460 as the suggested minimum level of lubricity for fuels used in diesel engines.
•The specification adopted by ASTM of 520 which is significantly lower than EMA requirements - unless additional lubricity is added in the form of a fuel additive that the engine will suffer increased wear and shorter engine life.