Experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of a diesel fuel additive

Abstract

One of the ways to reduce carbon emissions is by lowering the energy consumption of vehicles. Electrical or hybrid cars can help for lower emissions from transport in nearby future, but a big step can be achieved now if there is a way to reduce fuel consumption in current fleet. The use of fuels with improved characteristics or use of fuel additives, which can affect fuel physical and combustion properties, are promising measures in this direction. Due to advances in chemistry science and the research done in this area, it is of practical interest what the achievable benefits are nowadays. The aim of this research is to study how a popular present day commercial additive affects the fuel consumption and environmental performance of a high-speed diesel engine. In this paper are shown the results from performed studies on a direct injected diesel engine when working with additive, aimed to improve its energy consumption and hence its reduction in carbon emissions. The results show improvement in some of the harmful emissions, but no improvement of engine's efficiency.