Technical Committee Automotive Fuels

Composition of Diesel fuels from German Refineries

Due to the increasing importance of Diesel fuels in the market and the more stringent requirements on their quality as well as their ecological compatibility, a provision of appropiate data is required.
The Diesel fuels investigated for this report were made available by refineries during two different time periods. In accordance with the DIN EN 590 standard, samples of the so-called summer quality were supplied by 13 refineries during the time of July/August 2000. The corresponding winter quality was made available by 16 refineries in December 2000 / January 2001.
Chemical composition and relevant physical--technical properties of these 13 summer and 16 winter qualities were determined. In addition to the characteristic values defined by the quality standard certain unspecified, yet relevant parameters were established. The properties selected are important applicational or ecological criteria.
The test results demonstrate that composition and properties of the Diesel fuels investigated are within certain band widths. All samples tested comply with the requirements of the standard.