Talk:Winter diesel fuel

Northern America

It had been very hard to find references for the style that winter diesel is handled in Northern America - the forums are filled with assumptions and disbelief.

For example it seems that there is an old tradition to use "winter blend" and whenever someone asks for winter diesel the answers will sport a number of descriptions how to get to a good blend of #1 and #2 fuel. Many commentators do even believe that gas station owners will offer winter fuel as a ready-mix of #1 and #2 fuel and in some occasions that may even be true. Given the price level this is however beyond logic - in some occasions the advise was given to ask the shop owner and the only answers being carried back were that it is winterized diesel (with additives). Now, some show disbelief that the shop assistants know the quality of the fuel they sell (oh really?), and others have a friend of a friend story that the supplier will ship a winter blend from the refinery. That is hard to decide and it does even get better: the European diesel engines are not designed to run on a winter blend. How is it that there is no one coming back that winter diesel did destroy their engine? Or is it that all the BMW diesel car owners know what they do?

Another example is that when I had a search for the Canadian winter diesel regulations. Obviously there are some as car owners report that they never had a problem with the diesel fuel and they believe (!) the gas stations switch to a winterized diesel automatically. The only regulations that can be found at gc.ca consider a specialty for diesel fuel to be shipped to Northern arctic regions - however there was neither mentioning of additives nor kerosine (while still the Canadians do known the #1 / #2 split as well). Given that there is a CAN/CGSB-3.517 (Canadian General Standards Board) specification for road diesel [1] it does not seem that they have simply been taking over the US regulations.

I hope that someone can shed some light on this (i.e. pointing to good references). Guidod (talk) 17:47, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Oh, and I just found a reference where the term "winter blend" was used to refer to mix with additives [2] in the range of 1:10000. So it might just as well be that news (at the start of winter) say the refineries start to ship "winter blend" where in fact it refers to winterized diesel. Perhaps it carrying over from "fuel blender" that can indeed handling all the mixtures there might be. See for example [3] which sounds like an original source where in fact it is again a kind of friend-of-a-friend story. Guidod (talk) 18:03, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Notes

• http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=301416
• http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/06/20/35
  • "Fuel filter heating, which is installed as standard in all BMW diesel engines since mid-1985 ... The subsequent addition of flow improvers is absolutely damaging to the injection pump / high-pressure pump on direct injection diesel engines, just as adding petrol is, and is thus no longer permissible ... In exceptional circumstances, it is permissible to add a quantity of petroleum spirit. ne Depending on the mixing ratio (0-100% ), the pour point can thus be reduced to a temperature of approx. -45° C."

Diesel engines

So what I got from the specifications is that European car makers build their diesel engines to a cetan number around 50. Henceforth the EN 590 has set a minimum of cetan 45 even for arctic diesel and the premium diesel types go as high as cetan 55. Of course the motor would still work outside the design specs but not as efficient as it could do.

Old diesel engines were designed to work with a cetan of 40 but that is not environment-friendly - see the CARB discussion about the positive effects of a higher cetan number on fuel consumption. Indeed the European car makers ask for an increase of standard diesel fuel to a cetan of 58 and California will probably do the same trick. (not to mention that the claim of premium diesels to lower consumption is simply based on a higher cetan number).

The artic diesel in Russian specs go as low as cetan 40 and similarly Northern #2 fuel may got as low as cetan 40. Still. I suspect that it is about the lowest cetan level that allows a modern diesel engine to work. In comparison jet fuel (i.e. kerosene) has a lower cetan number in the range of 35 to 40 - so users preferring a winter blend should watch out as a blend of northern artic diesel (cetan 40) with jet fuel might harm the engine. It might not break the injection system (as it would by blending with gasoline) but the European diesel engine makers have simply not tested their motors to work with anything below cetan 40. Guidod (talk) 10:56, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Fuel Preheater / Filter Heater

I just had my own experience with temperatures below the CFPP, just by a single degree - the motor did start but the sound was horrible. By theory the precipitated wax particles make the rest of the fuel fluid to have a lower cetane value and the feed lines are blocked partially. Luckily, after about two minutes the system was running just fine. It's really just the cold start - driving is otherwise unaffected unlike insufficient winterized diesel and without a filter heater that will clog the fuel filter even while on the road (I had that experience a few years back as well - last tank stop was in France and we had a hard time getting over a (low) mountain in wintery Germany. The actual flakes were visible in the fuel supply plastic tube leading to the filter and they weren't quite getting through. Slowing down and ultimately halting was the only option to allow the radiant heat to keep the fuel running). Guidod (talk) 11:51, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Sweden

Would be nice to see a paragraph on Sweden. I'm not really sure if I am qualified to add, and the exact text of the Swedish standard is behind a paywall, but it seems that there is no specific 'Winter Diesel' in Sweden, since all Diesel sold in Sweden has good winter performance. "Swedish Diesel Fuel MK1 Environmental Class 1" which is specified in Swedish Standard 155435:2016 has a CFFP of between -24 and -35c (depending on the additives), and is sold year round. It also looks like Diesel meeting Swedish Standard 155435:2016 will exceed European Diesel specification SS-EN 590, while having 2.2% less Carbon monoxide, 11% less nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, and 110% fewer particulates compared to SS-EN 590. At least one fuel company (OKQ8) appears to supply 2 different fuels based on Latitude (rather than season), described as fuel sold "South of Dalälven" (a Swedish river at around 60 degrees north), with CFPP -24c to -26c, and "North of Dalälven" with CFPP -32 to -35.

Some Links:
Swedish Standards Institute SS 155435:2016 "Automotive fuels - Diesel fuel oil of environmental class 1 and 2 for high-speed diesel engines"

www.dieselnet.com "The EC1 grade has been supported by tax incentives compared to the EN 590 grade. Due to this tax policy, the EC1 grade has reached nearly full market penetration in Sweden. At the time of its introduction, back in 1991, the EC1 diesel was the first ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in the world."

Specification of Diesel sold nationally Via Circle-K (Formally the state-owned monopoly fuel company 'Statoil')
..."meets the standards for SS 15 54 35 och SS-EN 590"
..."CFPP -32c"

The specification of Diesel sold by another national fuel company, OKQ8:
...'Diesel sold South of Dalälven' CFPP -24 to -26
...'Diesel sold North of Dalälven' CFPP -32 to -35

SLB ·analys, the operator of the local air quality management system in the City of Stockholm on behalf of the Environment and Health Protection Administration.
Swedish MK1 diesel versus European EN 590 diesel - Comparing the impact on emissions and health risks in the metropolitan area of Stockholm
"it may safely be concluded that the replacement of all MK1 diesel with European EN 590 is expected to have significant impact on the health of the population, with effects on both cancer incidence and cardiovascular mortality."

U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information [4] Comparison of exhaust emissions from Swedish environmental classified diesel fuel (MK1) and European Program on Emissions, Fuels and Engine Technologies (EPEFE) reference fuel: a chemical and biological characterization, with viewpoints on cancer risk. (key differences: MK1 has 2.2% less Carbon monoxide, 11% less nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, and 110% fewer particulates.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by GlobalCitizen6156247 (talk • contribs) 10:13, 18 January 2017 (UTC)