The use of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) as a means to meet ever more stringent worldwide Particulate Matter/ Particle Number (PM/ PN) emissions regulations is increasing. Fuel Borne Catalyst (FBC) technology has now been successfully used as an effective system for DPF regeneration in factory and service fill as well as retrofit applications for several years.
The use of such a technology dictates that it be stable in long term service and that it remains compatible with new and emerging diesel fuel grades. In order to ensure this, neat additive stability data have been generated in a very severe and highly transient temperature cycle and a large selection of current (Winter 2012) market fuels have been evaluated for stability with this FBC technology. Results indicate that FBC technology remains suitable.
The incidence of Internal Diesel Injector Deposits (IDIDs) is increasing, particularly for advanced FIE systems. These deposits generate a variety of field issues that can, in extreme cases, require the fitting of a new set of injectors. IDIDs have been studied using a representative bench engine test (sodium based deposits) and injector rig (ashless polymeric based deposits), whereby baseline deposit formation seen in the field has been shown to be reproducible. The results indicate that the effect of the FBC technology tested is neutral for sodium salt based IDIDs whilst benefits are observed for ashless polymeric IDIDs.
The rigorous FBC testing data reported confirm that appropriate FBC technology can continue to be reliably deployed in the field and, in the tests carried out, can also help prevent issues associated with ashless polymeric IDIDs.