Diesel Fuel Lubricity - Base Fuel Effects

Many modern diesel fuel injection equipment designs rely totally on the fuel to provide lubrication. The ability of a diesel fuel to lubricate diesel fuel injection equipment has become commonly referred to as its “lubricity”. If a diesel fuel has insufficient lubricity then the performance of the fuel injection equipment can be compromised resulting in reduced durability and increased vehicle emissions.

We have been studying diesel fuel lubricity since the early 1990s using a test rig. The test rig consists of a motored distributor type fuel injection pump, injectors and a fuel handling/circulation system. This paper reviews test rig results on a total of twenty three different base fuels. The pump test rig results are compared to the inspection properties of the test fuels and conclusions derived.