The development of fuel systems components are becoming challenging with the increasing use of Biofuels like Biodiesels and Ethanol around the world.
Biodiesels are one of the most challenging fuels, once they can have multiple sources, which influences its characteristics, mainly the oxidization stability and peroxide levels. As the fuel characteristics changes along the time, the correct materials selection during the development phase is very important for the fuel system performance during the vehicle lifetime.
One of the components most affected by the Biodiesel is the in tank fuel pump system. During the vehicle lifetime, it is exposed to all sorts of fuel and its contaminants and exposed to system stress factors like temperature and voltage variation.
The wires insulation in the fuel pump systems are one of the most affected components. Typical materials used on the insulation such as fluorinated compounds may not be resistant to Biodiesel, mainly after a certain ageing and use of bad fuel present in the market.
The objective of this paper is to show the importance of proper material selection for Biodiesel application and tests performed which demonstrate weakness of materials typically recommended for this kind of application.