Plastic and aggressive fuels

Results of a 5000-h study by Ticona show that two materials-acetal copolymer and linear polyphenylene sulfide-performed better than the rest in interactions with modern fuels.

Auto fuel systems, long challenging environments for engineering thermoplastics, became more so during the, past decade as new fuels were introduced and fuel temperatures rose. The demands on plastics in contact with fuel were further compounded by the increase in vehicle design life to 240,000 km (150,000 mi)-or 15 years-and the ongoing push for lower vehicle weight, reduced emissions, and other trends.

Perhaps nothing has been more of a challenge for fuel-system plastics than the need to withstand prolonged exposure to the new generation of more-reactive fuels. Fuel blends containing methanol, ethanol, and other aggressive components can interact with plastics, causing changes in weight and dimension, as well as the loss of strength, stiffness and creep, and impact resistance.