Infineum 2012 Winter Diesel Fuel Survey

[tditom]

I haven't seen this mentioned here, and came across it yesterday after participating in another thread discussion on fuel additives.

Infineum runs random fuel sample tests on retail pump fuel around the world every two years. I'm obviously mainly concerned with the US supply

Link

My takeaways:
They sampled fuel from 51 stations in the US (pp 127-138). The wear scar numbers for lubricity are better than I feared (Max/Mean avg/Min, in microns): 393/327/177 for the east coast, 556/359/191 for the midwest, and 533/412/211 for the west coast. Note that the Worldwide Fuel Charter recommendation is max 400 micron wear scar. There are obviously some places that still need lubricity, so I still recommend a lubricity additive for anyone who does not have at least 1% biodiesel in their fuel.


Max/Mean avg/Min cetane numbers are 49/45/43 for the east coast, 55/47/41 for the midwest, and 54/50/47 for the west coast.

Thoughts?

 

[tadawson]

I wishI knew what group Texas was in . . . since we have state standards, I'd love to see state only results . . .

- Tim

 

[tditom]

Tim,
Denton County is TxLED country, so you can rest assured you have at least 48 cetane. I buy my diesel from Chevron because all their pumps around here are marked with "0 to 5% biodiesel content" labels, so have no concerns about lubricity.

 

[Cool Breeze]

Bio diesel is everywhere and lubricity / cetane are at least adequate. HFRR results were generally at Euro levels.

Cetane was just a tad under Euro levels.

Bad news for aftermarket additive suppliers.

Time to rethink my strategy.

 

[Bob_Fout]

Bio diesel is everywhere and lubricity / cetane are at least adequate. HFRR results were generally at Euro levels.

Cetane was just a tad under Euro levels.

Bad news for aftermarket additive suppliers.

Time to rethink my strategy.

Bio is not readily available everywhere. Cetane is lacking compared to our Euro counterparts. What about the other things additives do besides lube and boost cetane?

 

[Cool Breeze]

Bio is not readily available everywhere. Cetane is lacking compared to our Euro counterparts. What about the other things additives do besides lube and boost cetane?

Okay maybe not everywhere (limited to Midwest) but if concentrations of up to 2% are all that's needed and it's not required to be advertised at that concentration do we know for sure? Cetane is close I agree.

Other than detergents and cold flow inhibitors I can't think of another use for an aftermarket additive. Not sure it's worth the cost based upon this survey.

I just don't know what to think anymore. It contradicts the VW/NHTSA results and those provided by some aftermarket additive marketers. What would be interesting is to find out the HFRR results on a per test run basis. It'd like to see the number of runs for each sample.

 

[kydsid]

Somehow I expected Canada's HFRR to be lower than what they found.

 

[drywaller]

Has anyone found an affordable source for Infineum? If no has anyone looked into turbine oils as a diesel fuel additive. Out of the can infineum and Shell 555 turbine look, feel and smell very similar. I know that really means nothing but its worth investigating.

 

[MichaelB]

Has anyone found an affordable source for Infineum? If no has anyone looked into turbine oils as a diesel fuel additive. Out of the can infineum and Shell 555 turbine look, feel and smell very similar. I know that really means nothing but its worth investigating.

You can't buy "Infineum" it is not a product it is a company like Lubrizol. They manufacture chemical additives for the trade to blend into their products.

 

[Bob_Fout]

Has anyone found an affordable source for Infineum? If no has anyone looked into turbine oils as a diesel fuel additive. Out of the can infineum and Shell 555 turbine look, feel and smell very similar. I know that really means nothing but its worth investigating.

I am confused. Infineum is an additive company, like Lubrizol.

 

[drywaller]

You can't buy "Infineum" it is not a product it is a company like Lubrizol. They manufacture additives for the trade to blend into their products.

I guess I was reffering to to the actual product that is blended into diesel fuels. I can't remember the number designation. I actually obtained a quart of it from an end user. One quart to a tank of diesel fuel made my engine sound like a gas motor.
I have also tried shell turbine oil with decent results.

 

[Bob_Fout]

I guess I was reffering to to the actual product that is blended into diesel fuels. I can't remember the number designation. I actually obtained a quart of it from an end user. One quart to a tank of diesel fuel made my engine sound like a gas motor.
I have also tried shell turbine oil with decent results.

Probably a cetane booster.

 

[MichaelB]

I guess I was reffering to to the actual product that is blended into diesel fuels. I can't remember the number designation. I actually obtained a quart of it from an end user. One quart to a tank of diesel fuel made my engine sound like a gas motor.
I have also tried shell turbine oil with decent results.

Man your out there. Unless you are a commercial blender they won't sell you anything they manufacture. A quart of pure additive would probably cost an arm and a leg and would definitely be over kill. Where the Shell Turbine oil comes to play I really don't understand.

 

[drywaller]

Don't remember saying I bought it. I obtained it from a friend who let's say dispenses it. It is used as a lubricity additive in ulsd

 

[drywaller]

And yes, one quart to a tank of diesel fuel is more than over kill. Seeing how it takes less than one gallon of additive to four thousand gallon of ulsd

 

[drywaller]

As far as turbine oil goes. Lubricity was mentioned I. this thread so I thought I would share my experience with turbine oil.

 

[MichaelB]

Don't remember saying I bought it. I obtained it from a friend who let's say dispenses it. It is used as a lubricity additive in ulsd

Need more details than that, That's like telling us you got a buddy that got me this stuff and Shell turbine oil is just as good. There is no real data here.

 

[drywaller]

Need more details than that, That's like telling us you got a buddy that got me this stuff and Shell turbine oil is just as good. There is no real data here.

I never said shell turbine oil is just as good. I have no real way of testing that. As far as turbine oil goes I said it looks feels and smells very similar to the infineum additive.
And yes, I guess I did say I have a Buddy that got me this stuff. Comes in 375 gallon stainless totes that are labeled infinitum xxx

 

[MichaelB]

I never said shell turbine oil is just as good. I have no real way of testing that. As far as turbine oil goes I said it looks feels and smells very similar to the infineum additive.
And yes, I guess I did say I have a Buddy that got me this stuff. Comes in 375 gallon stainless totes that are labeled infinitum xxx

Still sayin' Infineum is a company not a product. They manufacture hundreds of chemicals for the blending industry. What is XXX at least then we would know what the product is and I have sources in the blending industry that could shed a bit more light on the product.

 

[drywaller]

There was a number designation after infineum. I will get a picture of the label of the actual product being blended into ulsd as a lubricity additive.

 

[MichaelB]

There was a number designation after infineum. I will get a picture of the label of the actual product being blended into ulsd as a lubricity additive.

Fine now we are getting somewhere. And feels and smells like don't mean a thing.

 

[drywaller]

Fine now we are getting somewhere. And feels and smells like don't mean a thing.

Sometimes I just don't get it. Why some need to see "the numbers" before they will believe something works. I remember about ten years ago when bio diesel was catching on in my area. I started making and using it. In some cases I was running about a b90 blend. To say I noticed a difference is an understatement. It worked. I could tell it was doing everything that all the current testing shows now. Better lubrication. Period.
One quart of turbine oil to a tank of diesel makes for a quieter engine. Less knock on cold starts and a smoother running engine. That, to me tells me that it is an improvement in lubricity.
And as far as infineum goes. Yeah we get it. Infineum is a company, not an additive.
But their product that is used for lubricity is labeled Infineum (XXX) with the x's representing the actual name of the product. Like I said. I'll get a picture of the label so we know exactly what we are talking about.
I'm starting to think someone is jealous that I have a line on this stuff and you don't?

 

[MichaelB]

ten years ago when bio diesel was catching on in my area. I started making and using it. In some cases I was running about a b90 blend. To say I noticed a difference is an understatement. It worked. I could tell it was doing everything that all the current testing shows now. Better lubrication. Period.

Biodiesel also has a higher cetane rating, which means it burns more completely than diesel. Vehicles tend to run quieter and more smoothly when fueled with biodiesel. It ain't all about lubricity,

 

[drywaller]

Yes, this is true. So perhaps the extra infineum additive/turbine oil additive raises the cetane as well.

 

[Bob_Fout]

Yes, this is true. So perhaps the extra infineum additive/turbine oil additive raises the cetane as well.

This might be of interest:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=358699