Fuel Quality = Engine Performance

During the course of a diesel engine’s life it is the fuel that represents more than 70% of its operating cost. Therefore maintaining fuel quality is imperative.

GW’s new application note, Monitoring the Cloud Point of Diesel Fuel, demonstrates how NIR spectroscopy is a time and money saving alternative to traditional methods for monitoring the cloud point of a diesel fuel, which is the temperature below which wax forms giving the fuel a cloudy appearance. This parameter is an important property of the fuel since the presence of solidified waxes can clog filters and negatively impact engine performance. (By the way do you know who invented the Diesel Engine?) (Answer at the bottom)

Traditional laboratory methods for the measurement of cloud point are optical in nature but rely on cooling the fuel for the wax formation to occur. Guided Wave’s NIR instrumentation can measure compositional changes in the fuel that will be directly related to the wax formation and hence the cloud point. This means no waiting around for the wax to form; you get data within seconds with this powerful NIR method.

This application note illustrates how the measurement of cloud point of diesel fuel is made possible by using Guided Wave (GW) optical probes coupled to a near-infrared spectrometer with fiber optic cables. The GW NIR instruments can be applied either on-line for real-time, continuous process monitoring or simply as a faster and more efficient laboratory procedure. The end result of excellent fuel quality is maintained meaning better performing engines!

1. Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the Diesel engine. Wikipedia Born: March 18, 1858, Paris, France