Emissions issues of electric vehicles
When I hear people calling plug-in electric vehicles “zero emissions,” I go through the roof. Don’t they realize that the majority of electrical power generation in this country is accomplished by burning coal? Don’t they also realize that power generation contributes just as much to airborne contaminants as does transportation? The obvious answer is that
Prolong heavy-duty oil stabilizer available
Prolong announced that its Super Lubricants’ Super Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer, which helps solve lubrication-related problems such as engine noise, oil leaks and oil burning, is now available. According to Prolong, Super Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer creates a seal around the piston rings to restore compression, slowing down exhaust blow-by and reducing exhaust smoke emissions. The
Interpreting used oil analysis
“Think of oil analysis as a visit to your engine’s health care professional,” says Edward Covington, vice president, quality assurance at WIX Filters. “Oil analysis provides fact-based information on the oil’s condition, which can then be used to determine the engine’s condition. The data will help answer questions such as is the oil and filter
Oil analysis and filter trends
“Many of the modern heavy-duty engines equipped with EGR and SCR technologies generate higher levels of organic and inorganic acids, as well as higher amounts of soot in the oil,” says John Gaither, director of heavy-duty product engineering for Luber-finer. “This requires modern filtration technologies to address these newer challenges.” One of the benefits of
Peak Commercial & Industrial unveils heavy-duty engine oil for SCR, CNG/LNG engines
Peak Commercial & Industrial, the makers of BlueDEF, has introduced 10W-30 motor oil specifically engineered for SCR engines. Additionally, the company has also developed products specifically for the growing compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid natural gas (LNG) engine market. “Leveraging our extensive knowledge of SCR engines through the development of the number one brand
Alternative fuel infrastructure and application
For fleet managers, putting an alternative fuel truck—specifically natural gas—to work depends on two major factors: Infrastructure and application. According to the U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center, there are currently 713 public and 666 private CNG fueling stations and 54 public and 41 private LNG fueling stations in the U.S. The Department
Corn-based ethanol is swimming upstream
Corn-based ethanol production is currently about 10% of U.S. gasoline production, but overall sales volumes are down due to Americans driving more fuel efficient cars 9% less distance than they did in 2007. U.S. producers are exporting a lot of ethanol to keep their businesses profitable. Australia recently eliminated government ethanol production subsidies. Government subsidies
Clean fuel corner: Clear & bright—ISO cleanliness levels
When people talk about clear and bright, they could be chitchatting about the weather. However, in the domain of fuels and lubricants, this expression has been used since the ’80s. The oil industry calls it the Standard Test Method for Free Water and Particulate Contamination in Distillate Fuels (Visual). In all fairness, using the above
Clean fuel corner: Delivery and storage
Now that you understand how fuels are produced, the final product is ready to be delivered to customers that are spread across a wide geographical area. Fuels can be transported via pipe lines, rail carts, road tankers and sea [bulk cargo carriers]. The customer can be a bulk fuel depot that distributes the fuel to
Clean fuel corner: Additives in diesel fuel
Raw ultralow sulfur diesel fuels coming out of today’s modern refineries require various additives to bring them into specification. Although the details of each fuel spec vary in different parts of the world, the function of an additive is generally the same: to give the fuel a characteristic that it otherwise wouldn’t have right out
Clean fuel corner: Emissions driving changes and we say goodbye to sulfur
As we last discussed, many new engines employ high pressure common rail (HPCR) technology, injecting diesel fuel upwards of 2,700 bar. These engines are being challenged to meet stricter (read: cleaner) emissions requirements from governments around the world. To meet that challenge, engine OEMs are employing both on-engine and exhaust aftertreatment solutions. HPCR is an
Clean fuel corner: New engine technology and the need for clean fuel
Welcome to the Clean Fuel Corner! This column is an opportunity for you to learn more about how evolving diesel engine technology is driving the need for cleaner fuel. While that may seem to be fairly straightforward, delivering clean and dry fuel consistently to your engine’s fuel injection system can be a great challenge. We’ll