Fuels

Our instruments are at the forefront of fuels testing. With the range of equipment PCS Instruments offers, users can run internationally recognised standard tests (including ASTM, ISO and more) on both diesel fuels and jet fuels.

Fuel pump

PCS Instruments offers a range of equipment for fuel testing requirements. At the forefront of this range are the HFRR and the ABS, both of which can perform internationally recognised standard tests.

The High Frequency Reciprocating Rig (HFRR) is a reciprocating friction and wear test system which provides a fast, repeatable assessment of the performance of fuels and lubricants. It is particularly suitable for wear testing relatively poor lubricants such as diesel fuels and for boundary friction measurements of engine oils, greases and other compounds. It has become the industry standard test for diesel fuel lubricity and conforms to ASTM D6079, ASTM D7688, CEC F-06-A, ISO 12156, EN 590, JPI-5S-50, and IP 450.

The Automated BOCLE System (ABS) is a Ball-on-Cylinder wear test system which provides a fast, repeatable assessment of the performance of jet fuels that fully conforms to the ASTM D5001 test method for “Measurement of Lubricity of Aviation Turbine Fuels by the Ball-on-Cylinder Lubricity Evaluator”.

Fuels industry facts:

  • Crude oil and natural gas liquid production exceeded 4500 million tonnes in 2019
  • The United States has increased the amount of crude oil and natural gas liquids it exports by 1200% over the last 10 years
  • An average driver in the UK will spend over £56,000 on petrol in their lifetime
  • Middle distillates and motor gasoline remain the most in demand oil product groups

Fuels Industry includes the following:

Automotive

Automotive

In automotives, fuels not only are used to generate power through combustion but also need to help protect and maintain the engine parts. Intense tribological research in this area is constantly ongoing.

Aviation

Aviation

With commercial airliners using thousands of kilograms of fuel per hour, optimising its performance in terms of protecting engine parts and efficiency is an area of interest and significant work for tribologists.

Biofuels

Biofuels

Biofuels are an expanding sector in the fuels industry. It is an area of intense tribological study with the goal of creating more environmentally friendly fuels that operate just as effectively as current fuels.

Marine

Marine

Boats and ships operate in wet, often salty, conditions. Tribologists are working hard to develop more environmentally friendly and better performing fuels that can protect engine parts in these unique conditions.

Instruments for the Fuels Industry

Speak to us about our products

Get in touch

Fuels Industry Articles & Papers

Paper

Hydrogenated Orange Oil: a Waste Derived Drop-in Biojet Fuel

Orange oil was extracted by steam distillation from the peels of oranges produced as waste in the orange juice factories. …

Orange oil was extracted by steam distillation from the peels of oranges produced as waste in the orange juice factories. This raw orange oil, a potential source for biojet fuel, was analysed by FT-IR and GC-MS, and compared with distilled orange oil and pure d-limonene, which is its main chemical constituent. Both distilled orange oil and d-limonene were hydrogenated under reaction conditions (from 3 to 18 bar) which are mild enough to be industrially feasible, to improve its properties, especially to reduce their sooting tendency. Some important properties such as density, viscosity, heating values, lubricity, flash point, crystallization onset temperature, and smoke point were measured for hydrogenated orange oil and d-limonene (as a reference for comparison) at different conversions. These hydro-biofuels were blended with Jet A1 to check their suitability as biobased blending components for aviation. Based on the results obtained for the main aviation fuel properties, it is concluded that up to 15 vol% of partially hydrogenated orange oil could be blended with Jet A1 without any significant drawback for the performance of the actual airplanes. Flammability reduction systems would be needed to further increase the blend proportion of this drop-in biofuel in Jet A1.

View abstract

Paper

Hydrogenated or Oxyfunctionalized Turpentine: Options for Automotive Fuel Components

Many concerns, such as economic and technical viability and social and ethical aspects, must be considered for a feedstock selection …

Many concerns, such as economic and technical viability and social and ethical aspects, must be considered for a feedstock selection for advanced biofuels. Industrialized countries promote the use of industrial waste or by-products for this purpose. In particular, turpentine has several properties which make it an attractive source for biofuels, including its possible industrial waste origin. Nevertheless, turpentine has shown some disadvantages when blended directly with diesel, especially because it increases the sooting tendency. On the contrary, some derivatives of turpentine can be suitable for diesel blends. Thus, the evaluation of their properties is necessary. In the present work, the properties of hydrogenated and oxyfunctionalized turpentine have been analysed and compared with the purpose of elucidating their benefits and drawbacks in diesel fuel applications, using European standards as a reference. The results show a promising application of both hydroturpentine and oxyturpentine as diesel components. While hydroturpentine significantly improves the diesel cold flow properties, oxyturpentine noticeably reduces the sooting tendency.

View abstract