FUELS

Diesel, Gasoline and Hybrid Engines

ME 411E – AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
Overview
Crude Oil
Gasoline

Diesel Engines

Hybrid Engines
Fuels
 gasoline is the most commonly used
and most readily available
 electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell
vehicles
 efficiency depends on having the
correct amount of air mixed with the
correct amount of fuel
 Ideal air-fuel or stoichiometric ratio for
a gasoline engine is approximately
14.7 pounds of air mixed with 1 pound
of gasoline
 10,000 gallons of air mixed with 1
gallon of gasoline to achieve this air-
fuel ratio
CRUDE OIL
 Petroleum
which means oil from the
earth
 fossil fuel

 dark brown or black color, but it

can also be yellow or greenish

composition of crude oil
 84% carbon
 14% hydrogen

 1% to 3% sulfur, in the form of hydrogen sulfide, sulfides,

disulfides, and elemental sulfur
 Less than 1% nitrogen

 Less than 1% oxygen

 Less than 1% metals, normally nickel, iron, vanadium,

copper, and arsenic
 Less than 1% salts, in the form of sodium chloride,
magnesium chloride, and calcium chloride
Petroleum Products
 Hydrocarbons
 (HCs) in crude oil have many
different lengths and structures
 shortest chain is methane

 Longer chains with five or more

carbons are liquids or solids

 Asphalt has thirty-five or more carbon

atoms
Whale Oil Coal Oil and Kerosene
Refining
 separation process is called refining
 one barrel (42 gallons or 159 liters) of

crude oil will produce 20 gallons (75.7

L) of gasoline, 7 gallons (26.5 L) of
diesel fuel, and smaller amounts of
various other petroleum products
 fractional distillation

 Basis of this method is simply that the

different HC chain lengths have
progressively higher boiling points
 Propane will boil at less than 104°F
(40°C).
 Gasoline will boil at 104° to 401°F
(40° to 205°C).
 Jet fuel will boil at 350° to 617°F
(175° to 325°C).
 Diesel fuel will boil at 482° to 662°F
(250° to 350°C).
 Lubricating oil will boil at 572° to
700°F (300° to 370°C).
 Asphalt will boil at temperatures
greater than 1,112°F (600°C).
 The process of breaking down a large HC into a
small one is called cracking
 Unification- small HCs are combined to make larger
ones
 passing the fractions through sulfuric acid to remove
unsaturated HCs
 a drying column to remove water

 hydrogen-sulfide scrubbers to remove sulfur.

Concerns
 Crude Oil is the world’s most important energy source
 It is estimated that there is approximately 3.74 trillion
barrels (440 km³) of oil reserves
 current level of oil consumption is about 84 million barrels

(3.6 km³) per year

 oil reserves will be gone by 2039

 linked to global warming

 transportation contributes to about

one-quarter of the man-made CO2 emissions

 less than 4% is man-made
Gasoline
 Gasoline
 May 1876, Nicolaus Otto
 Built the first practical four-stroke-
cycle internal combustion engine
powered by a liquid fuel.
 LIQUID FUEL

 Gasoline (United States)

 Gasolina

 Petrol

 Essence

 Benzin
 Gasoline
 Gasoline and the
automobile grew up
together.
 August 1859, Edwin Drake

Financed the drilling effort

that lead to successfully
drill Crude Oil (at a depth
of 70 ft or 21 meters).
 What is Gasoline??
 Motor gasoline is a
complex mixture of light
hydrocarbons containing
5-12 carbon atoms,
 Produced in oil refineries,

 Used in internal

combustion engines
 What is Gasoline?
 Gasoline is a colorless liquid with excellent
vaporization capabilities
 Gasoline is comprised of over 200
chemicals. Many of these are hazardous
substances regulated in USA, such as:
 benzene (up to 5%),
 Toluene (up to 20%),

 Naphthalene (up to 2%),

 Trimethylbenzene(up to 5%) and others

GASOLINE:
Demanding set of
Performance expectations
 An engine that starts easily when
cold, warms up rapidly, and runs
smoothly under all conditions.
 An engine that delivers adequate
power without knocking.
 A vehicle that provides good fuel
economy and generates low
emissions.
 A gasoline that does not add to
engine deposits or contaminate or
corrode a vehicle’s fuel system.
WE SHOULD TAKE NOTE
 Although proper vehicle
design and maintenance
are necessary, GASOLINE
plays an important role in
meeting these
expectations.
major factors affecting
fuel performance

antiknock quality
Volatility

sulfur content,

deposit control
Antiknock Quality
 gasoline’s ability to resist knocking as it burns in
the combustion chamber
 octane number

is a measure of the fuel’s tendency not to

experience detonation in the engine.

 The higher the octane rating, the less the engine

has of a tendency to knock.

Knocking
 (also knock, detonation, spark knock, pinging or pinking)
 is a metallic noise an engine makes, usually during

acceleration, resulting from abnormal or uncontrolled

combustion inside the cylinder
 occurs when combustion of the air/fuel mixture in the

cylinder does not start off correctly in response to ignition

by the spark plug, but one or more pockets of air/fuel
mixture explode outside the envelope of the normal
combustion front
Knocking
Knocking

 Knocking results in:

 Damage of parts

 Erosion of the combustion

chamber
 Inefficient operation, waste

power
 Higher amount of unburnt

hydrocarbon in the exhaust

leading to air pollution
Pre-ignition
 describes the event wherein the air/fuel mixture in
the cylinder ignites before the spark plug fires.
RON and MON
 Research Octane Number
Correlates best low-speed, mild-knocking

conditions(600 RPM)

 Motor Octane Number

Correlates best high-speed and high-temperature

knocking conditions and with part-throttle

operation. (900 RPM)
Road Octane Number
 The Modified Uniontown procedure involves using an
actual vehicle to measure the antiknock performance of
a gasoline.
 Because vehicle testing is more complex than laboratory

testing, there have been several attempts to predict

RdON from RON and MON.
 RdON = a(RON) + b(MON) + c

 A good approximation for RdON is a = b = 0.5 and c = 0,

yielding (RON + MON)/2, commonly written (R + M)/2. This
is called the antiknock index (AKI).
How it is measured??

 Both of these test methods

employ a CFR single-cylinder,
variable compression, knock-
test engine.
 The engine is operated under

different test conditions of

speed, mixture temperature,
and spark advance for each
method.
 actual spark-ignition
engines -range from
about 25 to 30 percent.
How it is measured??

 During a gasoline test, the compression ratio of the

test engine is adjusted to produce a knock of
standard intensity.
 The knock intensity of the gasoline being rated is

then matched to the primary reference fuel at the

set compression ratio.
RON and MON
 two primary standard reference fuels: isooctane and
heptane.
 Isooctane

 does not knock in an engine but is not used in gasoline

because of its expense.
 has an octane number of 100

 Heptane

 knocks severely in an engine.

 has an octane number of zero.

How it is measured??
 The octane number of the reference fuel is assigned as
the octane number of the test gasoline.

 The octane number of each primary reference fuel is

equal to the volume percent of isooctane it contains.

 A 90%/10% blend of isooctane/ n-heptane has an octane

value of 90.
Example:

TEST GASOLINE COMPRESSION RATIO = 10

Example:
AMOUNT OF ISO-OCTANE AMOUNT OF N-OCTANE COMPRESSION RATIO

60% 40% 5

70% 30% 6

80% 20% 8

85% 15% 10

Therefore, the OCTANE NUMBER OF

THE TEST GASOLINE IS 85
Octane Number
 Generally, three grades of
unleaded gasoline with different
AKIs are available in the U.S.:
 regular, midgrade, and premium.
At sea level, the posted AKI for
regular grade is usually 87;
 for midgrade, 89. The AKI of
premium grade varies, ranging
from 91 to 94.
Petron Blaze 100 Euro 4
 Euro 4 is a globally-accepted
European emission standard for
vehicles, which require fuel with
significantly low amounts of sulfur
(0.005% or 50 parts per million) and
benzene (maximum of 1% by volume).
 Currently, the Philippine standard for

automotive gasoline allows up to

0.05% sulfur or 500 parts per million
and up to 2% benzene.
Petron Blaze 100 Euro 4
 Petron Blaze 100 Euro 4 is
recommended for high-end,
high-performance vehicles
(e.g. Lamborghini, McLaren,
Audi, Maserati, etc.), other cars
will get the same performance
benefits because of its very
high octane rating and
performance enhancing
additives.
Techron
 Techron is a patented fuel
additive developed by
the Chevron Corporation, usually
consisting of gasoline mixed with
400 ppm of polyetheramine.
 With the introduction of Techron,
Chevron gasolines became
designated as meeting Top Tier
standards for fuel cleanliness.
 octane rating has nothing to do with fuel economy or
engine efficiency
 Most modern engines are designed to operate

efficiently with regular grade gasoline and do not

require high octane gasoline
 high-octane fuel is that it burns slower than low octane
gasoline
 Most engine control systems have a sensor to detect if
a knock is occurring so the ECM can retard the ignition
timing to prevent detonation.
 less heat energy in high-octane gasoline,
therefore, less power is generated during
combustion.
 Using a higher-octane gasoline than required
will not produce more power unless the engine
has a knock sensor that allows the system to
adjust ignition timing to take advantage of the
higher octane
What can be done to stop engine knock?
Change the Engine Design
Changing the Engine Design
Changing the Design
 This means the fuel/air mixture
will be less compressed when
the flame front reaches it, again
reducing the risk of detonation.
 Designing an engine to reduce

knock tends to reduce its

efficiency and power output.
Changing the Fuel
Changing the Fuel
 Using a fuel with good anti-knock properties
allows designers to squeeze more power and
efficiency out of the engine.
 Other Fuels
 If a molecule starts out small it
tends to survive high temperatures
and pressures very well.
 This means that fuels made of

small molecules such as methane

(natural gas) propane and butane
(liquified petroleum gas) and
ethanol are all highly resistant to
detonation and make excellent
fuels in a spark-ignition engine
Tetra-ethyl Lead
 Previously, gasoline used to
contain small quantities of the
heavy metal lead (Pb) in the
form of tetra-ethyl lead, which
stabilized the fuel to prevent it
from detonating
 However, leaded fuel was
banned because it causes brain
damage in children and destroys
the pollution-reducing catalytic
converters in the exhaust systems
of modern cars.
DRIVEABILITY
 describes how an engine starts,
warms up, and runs. It is the
assessment of a vehicle’s response
to the use of its accelerator relative
to what a driver expects.
 Driveability problems include: hard

starting, backfiring, rough idling,

poor throttle response, and stalling
(at idle, under load, or when
decelerating).
VOLATILITY
 a gasoline’s tendency to vaporize.
 winter weather

 vaporize easily. Gasoline that vaporizes

easily allows a cold engine to start
quickly and warm up smoothly.
 Warm-weather
 gasoline is blended to vaporize less
easily to prevent engine vapor lock
and other hot fuel handling problems
and to control evaporative emissions
that contribute to air pollution.
VOLATILITY
Crankcase Oil Dilution
A fuel must vaporize to prevent diluting the
crankcase oil with liquid fuel or break down the oil
film on the cylinder walls, causing scuffing or
scoring.
 The liquid eventually enters the oil in the
crankcase, forming an accumulation of sludge,
gum, and varnish as well as affecting the
lubrication properties of the oil.
Reid vapour pressure (RVP) test
 performed by placing a sample of gasoline into a
sealed metal container that has a pressure
measuring device attached to it
 container is submerged in heated (100°F or 38°C)

water
 creates vapour pressure within the container.

 Fuels that are more volatile will create more

pressure
SULFUR CONTENT
 Limit the amount of corrosion it can cause in the engine and
exhaust system
 sulfur dioxide + water = sulfuric acid

 a highly corrosive compound

 leading cause of exhaust valve pitting and exhaust system
deterioration
 catalytic converters

 sulfur dioxide can cause the obnoxious odor

 sulfur content in gasoline is limited to less than 0.01%.
Gasoline Additives
Gasoline Additives
 Additives are gasoline-soluble
chemicals mixed with gasoline
to enhance certain
performance characteristics or
to provide characteristics not
inherent in the gasoline.
 Typically, they are derived from
petroleum-based raw materials
and their function and
chemistry are highly
specialized.
Anti-Icing Additives

 Delcer
 surfactants, alcohols, and

glycols
 Isopropyl alcohol

 They prevent ice

formation in the
carburetor and fuel
system.
Metal Deactivators
 inhibit reactions between the fuel and
the metals in the fuel system that can
form abrasive and filter-plugging
substances
 active metals such as copper and zinc

 These metals are not used in most

gasoline distribution and vehicle fuel
systems, but when they are present,
metal deactivators inhibit their
catalytic activity.
Gum or Oxidation Inhibitors
 Includes aromatic amines and hindered phenols, are also
called antioxidants
 They prevent gasoline components from reacting with
oxygen in the air to form peroxides or gums and varnish
 Peroxides can degrade antiknock quality, cause fuel

pump wear, and attack plastic or elastomeric fuel system

parts.
 Soluble gums can lead to engine deposits, and insoluble

gums can plug fuel filters.

Corrosion Inhibitors
 carboxylic acids and carboxylates
 They prevent gasoline components from

reacting with oxygen in the air to form

peroxides or gums.
 The tank and pipeline facilities of gasoline

distribution and marketing systems are

constructed primarily of uncoated steel.
 Corrosion inhibitors help prevent free

water in gasoline from rusting or corroding

these facilities.
Corrosion Inhibitors
 The metal parts in the fuel systems of
today’s vehicles are made of corrosion-
resistant alloys or of steel that is covered
with a corrosion-resistant coating.
 More plastic and elastomeric parts are

replacing metal parts in fuel systems.

 service station systems and operations
are designed to help prevent free
water from being delivered to vehicle
fuel tanks.
Silver Corrosion Inhibitors

 Silver corrosion inhibitors, also

referred to as filmers, inhibit the
corrosion caused by active sulfur
compounds
Detergents
 clean certain critical
parts inside the engine.
 They do not affect
octane
Demulsifiers
 polyglycol derivatives.
 An emulsion is a stable mixture of
two mutually insoluble materials
 Demulsifiers improve the water-

separating characteristics of
gasoline by preventing the
formation of stable emulsions
Antiknock Compounds
 Antiknock compounds increase the antiknock quality of gasoline.
 They include materials based on:

 • Lead alkyls,

 tetraethyl lead (TEL)

 tetramethyl lead (TML)

 • Manganese,

 methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT)

 • Iron,

 ferrocene
Deposit Control Additives
 Almost without exception, harmful
sediment and residue would build up
inside an engine if commercial
gasolines did not contain effective
deposit control (DC) additives.
 Some of today’s additives not only

help keep vital engine parts clean,

they can also remove existing deposits
 Dyes
 Dyes are oil-soluble solids and liquids
used to visually distinguish batches,
grades, or applications of gasoline
products.
 For example, gasoline for general
aviation, which is manufactured to
unique and exacting requirements, is
dyed blue to distinguish it from motor
gasoline.
Drag Reducers
 high-molecular-weight polymers that improve the
fluid flow characteristics of low-viscosity
petroleum products
 As energy costs have increased, pipelines have
sought more efficient ways to ship products
 Drag reducers lower pumping costs by reducing

friction between flowing gasoline and pipe walls

OXYGENATES
 compounds, such as alcohols and ethers, that
contain oxygen
 Improve combustion efficiency, thereby reducing
emissions
 serve as excellent octane enhancers

 reformulated gasoline (RFG)

 “cleaner-burning” gasoline and costs slightly more

than normal gasoline

Ethanol
 ethyl alcohol
 noncorrosive and relatively nontoxic alcohol made
from renewable biological sources
 10% ethanol into gasoline results in an increase of
2.5 to 3 octane points
 ethanol-blended gasoline, air toxics are about 50%
less
 keeps the fuel injectors cleaner and less subject to
corrosion due to the detergent additives
 ability to absorb the water in the fuel system
Methanol
 lightest and simplest of the alcohols
 wood alcohol

 more corrosive to fuel system

components than ethanol
 Highly toxic
 MTBE

 methyl tertiary butyl ether

 octane enhancer
 Aromatic Hydrocarbons
 petroleum-derived
compounds,
benzene,

xylene, and

toluene,

 octane boosters.
GASOLINE QUALITY TESTING

Testing the RVP of Gasoline

Alcohol in Fuel Test
Air Pollutants
 Ozone (O3) Ground-level ozone is a colorless gas that is the
chief component of urban smog.
 It is formed by the interaction of reactive organic gases,
NOX, and sunlight.
 Exposure to ozone has been linked to a number of health
effects, including significant decreases in lung function,
inflammation of the airways, and increased respiratory
symptoms.
 Ozone also affects vegetation and ecosystems, leading to
reductions in agricultural crop and commercial forest yields.
Air Pollutants
 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) VOCs are not criteria
pollutants, although some specific VOCs are classified as
toxics.
 Most hydrocarbon (HC) emissions are VOCs, which explains

why so much effort is directed toward reducing HC

emissions from vehicles and other source categories.
Air Pollutants
 Carbon Monoxide (CO) CO is a colorless, odorless gas
generated primarily by combustion processes.
 It is toxic to humans and animals, and at high enough levels, CO
causes headaches, nausea, and even death.
 CO toxicity stems from its ability to reduce the oxygen-carrying
capacity of the blood by preferentially bonding to hemoglobin.
 CO is formed when carbon in fuel is not burned completely.

 Over the last decade, the auto industry has made remarkable

advances in tightly controlling air-fuel ratio (A/F), which reduces

CO emissions.
Air Pollutants
 Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) NOX is the generic term for several
reactive gases containing nitrogen and oxygen in various ratios.
 They form when fuel is burned at high temperatures.

 Most NOX emissions (90 percent) are man-made.

 The main sources are motor vehicles and industrial/commercial

sources that burn fuels.

 NO is nontoxic by itself, but it contributes to ozone formation.

 The resulting atmospheric product, NO2, can irritate lungs and

lower resistance to respiratory infection.

Air Pollutants
 Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) is produced primarily from the
combustion of fuels containing sulfur.
 Facilities that burn fuel oil and coal are the major sources.
Air Pollutants
 Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5)
 PM10 is composed of airborne particles less than10 microns
(0.0004 inch) in diameter.
 For comparison, the diameter of a human hair is 50 microns to
100 microns.
 The U.S. EPA estimates that fugitive dust from roads accounts for
about two-thirds of total PM10 emissions.
 PM10 attributable to vehicle exhaust includes both primary
carbon particles (mainly from diesel) and secondary sulfate and
nitrate aerosols formed by reactions of SO2 and NOX in the
atmosphere.
 PM2.5 is a subset of PM10 composed of particles less than 2.5
microns in diameter.
 Such particles are small enough to reach deep in the lungs and
may contain substances particularly harmful to human health.
Air Pollutions
 Lead Gasoline-fueled vehicles were the primary source of
airborne lead when gasoline contained a lead alkyl
antiknock additive, such as tetraethyl lead (TEL).
 Excessive exposure to lead may cause neurological

impairments such as seizures, mental retardation, and

behavioral disorders.
Air Pollutants
 Toxic Organics
 • Benzene • Formaldehyde

 • Polycyclic organic matter (POM) • 1,3-Butadiene

 • Acetaldehyde
Summary:
 Engine knock is caused by fuel molecules breaking apart
and detonating before the flame front in the combustion
chamber reaches them.
 The engine will be irreparably damaged by the shockwaves

from this detonation if it is allowed to continue.

 Designing an engine to reduce knock tends to reduce its
efficiency and power output. Using a fuel with good anti-
knock properties allows designers to squeeze more power
and efficiency out of the engine.
Summary:
 Compact, highly-branched fuel molecules tend to be more
resistant to knock.
 The anti-knock properties of fuel are measured as an octane
rating, with zero on the scale producing equivalent levels of
knock to heptane (very poor) and 100 being equivalent to iso-
octane (excellent). Pump gasoline with an octane rating of 90
has the same anti-knock properties as a mixture of 90% iso-
octane and 10% heptane.
 Octane rating does not measure octane content or energy
content of a fuel, only its anti-knock properties. A fuel with low
energy content that contains no octane whatsoever can still
have a high octane rating.
Summary:
 Octane rating does not measure octane content or energy
content of a fuel, only its anti-knock properties. A fuel with
low energy content that contains no octane whatsoever
can still have a high octane rating.