Technical Committee Automotive Fuels

Relation between characteristic values of diesel fuels and the low temperature operability in diesel cars

The target of this project was to assess the ability of laboratory test methods to forecast the low temperature performance (operability) of nowadays diesel fuels in vehicles.
In the first step of this project the knowledge on this subject was evaluated. In a second step operability and Iaboratory test on different diesel qualities - intermediate-, winter- and summerfuels followed.
The results show that SFPP* does not have advantages over the current test method CFPP** used to determine filterability. The investigation also show that modifications of the CFPP-procedure have considerable potential for improving precision.
Taking the experience gained into account an improvement in forecasting the low temperature performance according to the CEC procedure by known laboratory tests seem most unlikely.
* SFPP = Simulated Filter Plugging Point
** CFPP = Cold Filter Plugging Point