Electrical Automotive Fuel Pump Resistance Against E60 Gasoline-Ethanol Blend

Two electrical fuel pumps were performed with different fuels in two different vehicles. The pumps accumulated 60.000 km and 190.000 km in passenger cars. Both vehicles and pumps were designed to operate exclusively with gasohol (E22), one of the pumps was tested with 60% ethanol in volume of gasoline blend (E60) for 60.000 km from June-2001 to February-2004. The other pump was tested with gasohol (E22) for 190.000 km from August 2000 to February-2004. The test conditions represented the actual use of the vehicles. Such test is not common vehicle manufacturers practice application because it requires a considered long period of time for evaluation procedure. This test helps both the analysis of soak time influence and the running time. This paper presents a tribological analysis of the components in order to compare the influence of both fuels on wear mechanisms or other degradation that could be influenced by the non usual E60 fuel. These analyses may contribute to develop more stable materials for fuel pumps and it will help in the next developments of flex fueled systems. Scanning microscopy and dimensional analyses were performed. The residuals of the fuel tanks were also studied using the particles retained by the inlet filter of the fuel pump.