Diesel fuel
Diesel fuel /ˈdiːzəl/, also called diesel oil or historically heavy oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and then injection of fuel. Therefore, diesel fuel needs good compression ignition characteristics.
The most common type of diesel fuel is a specific
In many countries, diesel fuel is standardized. For example, in the European Union, the standard for diesel fuel is
Names
Diesel fuel has many colloquial names; most commonly, it is simply referred to as diesel. In the United Kingdom, diesel fuel for road use is commonly called diesel or sometimes white diesel if required to differentiate it from a reduced-tax
History
Origins
Diesel fuel originated from experiments conducted by German scientist and inventor
At first, Diesel tested
During his first Diesel engine tests, Diesel also used
Since the 20th century
Before diesel fuel was standardised, diesel engines typically ran on cheap fuel oils. In the United States, these were distilled from petroleum, whereas in Europe, coal-tar creosote oil was used. Some diesel engines were fuelled with mixtures of fuels, such as petrol, kerosene, rapeseed oil, or lubricating oil which were cheaper because, at the time, they were not being taxed.
Types
Diesel fuel is produced from various sources, the most common being petroleum. Other sources include biomass, animal fat, biogas, natural gas, and coal liquefaction.
Petroleum diesel
Petroleum diesel, also called petrodiesel,
Synthetic diesel
Synthetic diesel can be produced from any carbonaceous material, including biomass, biogas, natural gas, coal and many others. The raw material is gasified into synthesis gas, which after purification is converted by the Fischer–Tropsch process to a synthetic diesel.[25]
The process is typically referred to as
Paraffinic synthetic diesel generally has a near-zero content of sulfur and very low aromatics content, reducing unregulated emissions[clarification needed] of toxic hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides[clarification needed] and particulate matter (PM).[26]
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is obtained from vegetable oil or animal fats (biolipids) which are mainly fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), and transesterified with methanol. It can be produced from many types of oils, the most common being rapeseed oil (rapeseed methyl ester, RME) in Europe and soybean oil (soy methyl ester, SME) in the US. Methanol can also be replaced with ethanol for the transesterification process, which results in the production of ethyl esters. The transesterification processes use catalysts, such as sodium or potassium hydroxide, to convert vegetable oil and methanol into biodiesel and the undesirable byproducts glycerine and water, which will need to be removed from the fuel along with methanol traces. Biodiesel can be used pure (B100) in engines where the manufacturer approves such use, but it is more often used as a mix with diesel, BXX where XX is the biodiesel content in percent.[27][28]
FAME used as fuel is specified in DIN EN 14214[29] and ASTM D6751 standards.[30]
Fuel Injection Equipment (FIE) manufacturers have raised several concerns regarding biodiesel, identifying FAME as being the cause of the following problems: corrosion of fuel injection components, low-pressure fuel system blockage, increased dilution and polymerization of engine sump oil, pump seizures due to high fuel viscosity at low temperature, increased injection pressure, elastomeric seal failures and fuel injector spray blockage.[31] Pure biodiesel has an energy content about 5–10% lower than petroleum diesel.[32] The loss in power when using pure biodiesel is 5–7%.[28]
As biodiesel contains low levels of sulfur, the emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates, major components of acid rain, are low. Use of biodiesel also results in reductions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter. CO emissions using biodiesel are substantially reduced, on the order of 50% compared to most petrodiesel fuels. The exhaust emissions of particulate matter from biodiesel have been found to be 30% lower than overall particulate matter emissions from petrodiesel. The exhaust emissions of total hydrocarbons (a contributing factor in the localized formation of smog and ozone) are up to 93% lower for biodiesel than diesel fuel.[citation needed]
Biodiesel also may reduce health risks associated with petroleum diesel. Biodiesel emissions showed decreased levels of
Hydrogenated oils and fats
This category of diesel fuels involves converting the triglycerides in vegetable oil and animal fats into alkanes by refining and hydrogenation, such as Neste Renewable Diesel or H-Bio. The produced fuel has many properties that are similar to synthetic diesel, and are free from the many disadvantages of FAME.
DME
Dimethyl ether, DME, is a synthetic, gaseous diesel fuel that results in clean combustion with very little soot and reduced NOx emissions.[27]
Storage
In the US, diesel is recommended to be stored in a yellow container to differentiate it from kerosene, which is typically kept in blue containers, and gasoline (petrol), which is typically kept in red containers.[35] In the UK, diesel is normally stored in a black container to differentiate it from unleaded or leaded petrol, which are stored in green and red containers, respectively.[36]
Standards
The diesel engine is a multifuel engine and can run on a huge variety of fuels. However, development of high-performance, high-speed diesel engines for cars and lorries in the 1930s meant that a proper fuel specifically designed for such engines was needed: diesel fuel. In order to ensure consistent quality, diesel fuel is standardised; the first standards were introduced after World War II.
Diesel fuel
- EN 590 (European Union)
- ASTM D975 (United States)
- GOST R 52368 (Russia; equivalent to EN 590)
- NATO F 54 (NATO; equivalent to EN 590)
- DIN 51601 (West Germany; obsolete)
Biodiesel fuel
- EN 14214 (European Union)
- ASTM D6751 (United States)
- CAN/CGSB-3.524 (Canada)
Measurements and pricing
Cetane number
The principal measure of diesel fuel quality is its cetane number. A cetane number is a measure of the delay of ignition of a diesel fuel.[37] A higher cetane number indicates that the fuel ignites more readily when sprayed into hot compressed air.[37] European (EN 590 standard) road diesel has a minimum cetane number of 51. Fuels with higher cetane numbers, normally "premium" diesel fuels with additional cleaning agents and some synthetic content, are available in some markets.
Fuel value and price
About 86.1% of diesel fuel mass is carbon, and when burned, it offers a net heating value of 43.1 MJ/kg as opposed to 43.2 MJ/kg for gasoline. Due to the higher density, diesel fuel offers a higher volumetric energy density: the density of EN 590 diesel fuel is defined as 0.820 to 0.845 kg/L (6.84 to 7.05 lb/US gal) at 15 °C (59 °F), about 9.0-13.9% more than EN 228 gasoline (petrol)'s 0.720–0.775 kg/L (6.01–6.47 lb/US gal) at 15 °C, which should be put into consideration when comparing volumetric fuel prices. The CO2 emissions from diesel are 73.25 g/MJ, just slightly lower than for gasoline at 73.38 g/MJ.[38]
Diesel fuel is generally simpler to refine from petroleum than gasoline, and contains hydrocarbons having a boiling point in the range of 180–360 °C (356–680 °F). Additional refining is required to remove sulfur, which contributes to a sometimes higher cost. In many parts of the United States and throughout the United Kingdom and Australia,[39] diesel fuel may be priced higher than petrol per gallon or litre.[40][41] Reasons for higher-priced diesel include the shutdown of some refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, diversion of mass refining capacity to gasoline production, and a recent transfer to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), which causes infrastructural complications.[42] In Sweden, a diesel fuel designated as MK-1 (class 1 environmental diesel) is also being sold. This is a ULSD that also has a lower aromatics content, with a limit of 5%.[43] This fuel is slightly more expensive to produce than regular ULSD. In Germany, the fuel tax on diesel fuel is about 28% lower than the petrol fuel tax.
Taxation
Diesel fuel is similar to
This untaxed diesel is dyed red for identification,
Taxes on biodiesel in the US vary between states. Some states (Texas, for example) have no tax on biodiesel and a reduced tax on biodiesel blends equivalent to the amount of biodiesel in the blend, so that B20 fuel is taxed 20% less than pure petrodiesel.[45] Other states, such as North Carolina, tax biodiesel (in any blended configuration) the same as petrodiesel, although they have introduced new incentives to producers and users of all biofuels.[46]
Uses
Diesel fuel is mostly used in high-speed diesel engines, especially motor-vehicle (e.g. car, lorry) diesel engines, but not all diesel engines run on diesel fuel. For example, large two-stroke watercraft engines typically use heavy fuel oils instead of diesel fuel,[22] and certain types of diesel engines, such as MAN M-System engines, are designed to run on petrol with knock resistances of up to 86 RON.[47] On the other hand, gas turbine and some other types of internal combustion engines, and external combustion engines, can also be designed to take diesel fuel.
The
On-road vehicles
Trucks and buses, which were often otto-powered in the 1920s through 1950s, are now almost exclusively diesel-powered. Due to its ignition characteristics, diesel fuel is thus widely used in these vehicles. Since diesel fuel is not well-suited for otto engines, passenger cars, which often use otto or otto-derived engines, typically run on petrol instead of diesel fuel. However, especially in Europe and India, many passenger cars have, due to better engine efficiency,[48] diesel engines, and thus run on regular diesel fuel.
Railroad
Diesel displaced coal and fuel oil for steam-powered vehicles in the latter half of the 20th century, and is now used almost exclusively for the combustion engines of self-powered rail vehicles (locomotives and railcars).[49][50]
Aircraft
In general, diesel engines are not well-suited for planes and helicopters. This is because of the diesel engine's comparatively low
Military vehicles
Until World War II, several military vehicles, especially those that required high engine performance (
Tractors and heavy equipment
Today's
Tractors and heavy equipment were often multifuel in the 1920s through 1940s, running either spark-ignition and low-compression engines, akryod engines, or diesel engines. Thus many farm tractors of the era could burn gasoline, alcohol, kerosene, and any light grade of fuel oil such as heating oil, or tractor vaporising oil, according to whichever was most affordable in a region at any given time. On US farms during this era, the name "distillate" often referred to any of the aforementioned light fuel oils. Spark ignition engines did not start as well on distillate, so typically a small auxiliary gasoline tank was used for cold starting, and the fuel valves were adjusted several minutes later, after warm-up, to transition to distillate. Engine accessories such as vaporizers and radiator shrouds were also used, both with the aim of capturing heat, because when such an engine was run on distillate, it ran better when both it and the air it inhaled were warmer rather than at ambient temperature. Dieselization with dedicated diesel engines (high-compression with mechanical fuel injection and compression ignition) replaced such systems and made more efficient use of the diesel fuel being burned.
Other uses
Poor quality diesel fuel has been used as an extraction agent for
Diesel fuel is often used as the main ingredient in oil-base mud drilling fluid.[56] The advantage of using diesel is its low cost and its ability to drill a wide variety of difficult strata, including shale, salt and gypsum formations.[56] Diesel-oil mud is typically mixed with up to 40% brine water.[57] Due to health, safety and environmental concerns, Diesel-oil mud is often replaced with vegetable, mineral, or synthetic food-grade oil-base drilling fluids, although diesel-oil mud is still in widespread use in certain regions.[58]
During development of rocket engines in Germany during World War II J-2 Diesel fuel was used as the fuel component in several engines including the BMW 109-718.[59] J-2 diesel fuel was also used as a fuel for gas turbine engines.[59]
Chemical analysis
Chemical composition
In the United States, petroleum-derived diesel is composed of about 75%
Chemical properties
Most diesel fuels freeze at common winter temperatures, while the temperatures greatly vary.[62] Petrodiesel typically freezes around temperatures of −8.1 °C (17.5 °F), whereas biodiesel freezes between temperatures of 2° to 15 °C (35° to 60 °F).[62] The viscosity of diesel noticeably increases as the temperature decreases, changing it into a gel at temperatures of −19 °C (−2.2 °F) to −15 °C (5 °F), that cannot flow in fuel systems. Conventional diesel fuels vaporise at temperatures between 149 °C and 371 °C.[37]
Conventional diesel flash points vary between 52 and 96 °C, which makes it safer than petrol and unsuitable for spark-ignition engines.[63] Unlike petrol, the flash point of a diesel fuel has no relation to its performance in an engine nor to its auto ignition qualities.[37]
Carbon dioxide formation
As a good approximation the chemical formula of diesel is C
nH
2n. Note that diesel is a mixture of different molecules. As carbon has a molar mass of 12 g/mol and hydrogen has a molar mass of about 1 g/mol, so the fraction by weight of carbon in EN 590 diesel fuel is roughly 12/14.
The reaction of diesel combustion is given by:
2C
nH
2n + 3nO
2 ⇌ 2nCO
2 + 2nH
2O
Carbon dioxide has a molar mass of 44g/mol as it consists of 2 atoms of oxygen (16 g/mol) and 1 atom of carbon (12 g/mol). So 12 g of carbon yield 44 g of Carbon dioxide.
Diesel has a density of 0.838 kg per liter.
Putting everything together the mass of carbon dioxide that is produced by burning 1 liter of diesel fuel can be calculated as:
The figure obtained with this estimation is close to the values found in the literature.
For gasoline, with a density of 0.75 kg/L and a ratio of carbon to hydrogen atoms of about 6 to 14, the estimated value of carbon emission if 1 liter of gasoline is burnt gives:[64]
Hazards
Environment hazards of sulfur
In the past, diesel fuel contained higher quantities of
Emission standard | At latest | Sulfur content | Cetane number |
---|---|---|---|
N/a | 1 January 1994 | max. 2000 ppm | min. 49 |
Euro 2 | 1 January 1996 | max. 500 ppm | min. 49 |
Euro 3 | 1 January 2001 | max. 350 ppm | min. 51 |
Euro 4 | 1 January 2006 | max. 50 ppm | min. 51 |
Euro 5 | 1 January 2009 | max. 10 ppm | min. 51 |
In the United States, more stringent emission standards have been adopted with the transition to ULSD starting in 2006, and becoming mandatory on June 1, 2010 (see also diesel exhaust).
Algae, microbes, and water contamination
There has been much discussion and misunderstanding of
These microbes form a colony that lives at the interface of fuel and water. They grow quite fast in warmer temperatures. They can even grow in cold weather when fuel tank heaters are installed. Parts of the colony can break off and clog the fuel lines and fuel filters.[67]
Water in fuel can damage a fuel injection pump. Some diesel fuel filters also trap water. Water contamination in diesel fuel can lead to freezing while in the fuel tank. The freezing water that saturates the fuel will sometimes clog the fuel injector pump.[68] Once the water inside the fuel tank has started to freeze, gelling is more likely to occur. When the fuel is gelled it is not effective until the temperature is raised and the fuel returns to a liquid state.
Road hazard
Diesel is less flammable than gasoline / petrol. However, because it evaporates slowly, any spills on a roadway can pose a slip hazard to vehicles.[69] After the light fractions have evaporated, a greasy slick is left on the road which reduces tire grip and traction, and can cause vehicles to skid. The loss of traction is similar to that encountered on black ice, resulting in especially dangerous situations for two-wheeled vehicles, such as motorcycles and bicycles, in roundabouts.
See also
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