Neste Oil to launch the first diesel complying with Category 4 WWFC diesel specification; reduces fuel consumption by 5% and emissions
22 May 2012
Neste Oil will launch a completely new grade of diesel fuel in Finland this fall: Neste Pro Diesel. The new fuel is the first to comply with the most stringent diesel specification (Category 4) drawn up as part of the Worldwide Fuel Charter (WWFC) by automotive manufacturers in Europe, the US, and Asia.
WWFC specifications for gasoline and diesel are based on extensive R&D work and experience gathered from fuels used worldwide, and comprise four categories for each fuel type, with increasing stringency. The highest WWFC specification diesel category is designed for markets with very advanced requirements for emission control to enable sophisticated NOx and PM after-treatment technologies.
| Select Properties of WWFC Category 4 Diesel Fuel (2006) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Properties | Units | Limit | ||||
| Min. | Max. | |||||
| Cetane Number | – | 55.0 | – | |||
| Cetane Index | – | 55.0 (52.0)1 | – | |||
| Density @ 15 °C | kg/m3 | 820 | 840 | |||
| Viscosity @ 40 °C | mm2/s | 2.0 | 4.0 | |||
| Sulfur content | mg/kg | – | 10 | |||
| Total aromatics content | % m/m | – | 15 | |||
| Polyaromatics content (di+tri+) | % m/m | – | 2.0 | |||
| T90 | °C | – | 320 | |||
| T95 | °C | – | 340 | |||
| Final Boiling Point | °C | – | 350 | |||
| Flash Point | °C | 55 | – | |||
| Carbon residue | % m/m | – | 0.20 | |||
| Injector cleanliness | % air flow loss | – | 85 | |||
| Lubricity (HFRR wear scar dia. @ 60°C) | micron | – | 400 | |||
| 1Cetane Index is acceptable instead of Cetane Number if a standardized engine to determine the Cetane Number is unavailable and cetane improvers are not used. When cetane improvers are used, the estimated Cetane Number must be greater than or equal to the specified value and the Cetane Index must be greater than or equal to the number in parentheses. | ||||||
Neste Pro Diesel will be produced at Neste Oil’s Porvoo refinery and will be available at Neste Oil’s service stations across Finland beginning this fall. The fuel will be used for the first time by the organizers of the Neste Oil Rally in August.
Tests at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Tampere University of Applied Science, and Neste Oil’s Motor Laboratory have shown that Neste Pro Diesel offers the best set of fuel product properties available today for all diesel vehicles. Neste Pro Diesel reduces fuel consumption by up to 5%—regardless of the vehicle it is used in, how it is driven, or the conditions it is driven in—and also cuts tailpipe emissions of pollutants such as NOx, particulates, and hydrocarbons.
Neste Pro Diesel also keeps engine oil cleaner for longer and helps improve overall vehicle performance; and offers better cold-weather performance than conventional diesel and enhanced reliability during the winter. With its renewable fuel (NExBTL) component, Neste Pro Diesel reduces a vehicle’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10-20%.
In a report on the optimal use of NExBTL, VTT researchers noted that:
Since NExBTL or HVO is a 100% hydrocarbon fuel, the fuel also fulfills the requirements in most diesel fuel standards and specifications, e.g. EN590, ASTM D975, Worldwide Fuel Charter Category 4 (WWFC 2006), with the exception of density. The density for HVO is typically 780 kg/m3. [Min/max density limits for WWFC Cat 4 are 820/840).] A blend of regular diesel fuel and 30% HVO fulfills all EN590 requirements (min. density 800/820 kg/m3).
Today’s fuels are developed by refiners in collaboration with leading automotive experts, and factors such as the performance and service life of vehicles’ particulate filters and how fuels affect motor oil are becoming increasingly important criteria for measuring fuel quality. Engines, fuels, and motor oils all need to perform together well throughout a vehicle’s service life.
Resources
Nils-Olof Nylund, Kimmo Erkkilä, Matti Ahtiainen, Timo Murtonen, Pirjo Saikkonen, Arno Amberla & Hannu Aatola. (2011) Optimized usage of NExBTL renewable diesel fuel. OPTIBIO. Espoo 2011. VTT Tiedotteita – Research Notes 2604.
Whilst there are many people faced with increased food prices in the world with the low production of maize in the US, it can be remembered that the this product is hydrogenated edible fats. Most of these fats are produced by the use of plantations where there were once natural forests soaking up CO2 in areas where the population is not as well fed as those in Finnland. No country should claim any credits for biofuel products made from products imported from outside its borders and such should also not be permitted because ther is lttle control over the ecology damage and CO2 release in foreign countries. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 07 September 2012 at 10:35 AM