Gasoline Lubricity: An Exploratory Evaluation

Injection system of internal combustion engines are directly lubricated by the fuel, being this ability known as lubricity. For gasoline fuels, although the lubricity requirement appears to be lower than other fuels, the concern is related to high pressure injection system used in direct injection engines, which might be more susceptible to intrinsic problems of lubricity. Still, few studies are available in the technical literature and the methodology for gasoline lubricity analysis is still object of study. In this sense, this paper aims to evaluate a modified HFRR test method with respect to its applicability to brazilian gasoline as well as the ethanol influence on lubricity. The results provide grounding on the practical test procedure under study.