EVALUATION OF THE CHEMICAL STABILITY OF DIESEL OIL WITH USING TURBISCAN STABILITY INDEX (TSI)

Abstract

For diesel oils containing fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), an important problem is their susceptibility to oxidation processes as this shortens the maximum storage time of such fuels and may result in deterioration of oil properties and thus affect the engine operation. One of the fuel ageing processes is the formation and release of resins from the fuel. The physical stability of mixtures may be evaluated by means of a physical stability index, determined with using a Turbiscan analyser [3, 19, 20]. The authors attempted to explore the possibility of using this index for evaluating the changes that take place during the ageing of diesel oil. Additionally, the impact of the presence of selected metals on the fuel ageing process was examined. Within the research, diesel oil samples containing various metals were prepared and subjected to the ageing process. Spectrophotometric tests were also carried out with using a Turbiscan instrument [4, 10, 11]. The samples were subjected to oxidation stability tests before and after the ageing process. The physical stability index and, additionally, the oxidation stability of the samples were examined by accelerated ageing methods.