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In support of the Department of Defense goal to streamline procurements, the Army recently decided to discontinue use of VV-F-800D as the purchase specification for diesel fuel being supplied to continental United States military installations. The Army will instead issue a commercial item description for direct fuel deliveries under the Post-Camp-Station (PCS) contract bulletin program. In parallel, the Defense Fuel Supply Center and the U.S. Army Mobility Technology Center-Belvoir (at Ft. Belvoir, VA) initiated a fuel survey with the primary objective to assess the general quality and lubricity characteristics of low sulfur diesel fuels being supplied to military installations under the PCS system. Under this project, diesel fuel delivery samples were obtained from selected military installations and analyzed according to a predetermined protocol.

The U.S. military, as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), interchanges fuels and other materials with other member nations throughout Europe. NATO is planning to use a single fuel for all battlefield operations, substituting NATO code F-34 (JP-8) for F-40 (JP-4) in aircraft and for F-54 (diesel fuel) in ground equipment. As part of this conversion process, the U.S. Army has been evaluating the impact of this fuel change on the operation of its diesel-fueled ground equipment. This paper covers some of the initial diesel engine durability testing being conducted and also reports some preliminary data of the operation of selected combat and tactical vehicles on F-34 (JP-8). This work, as well as other projects referenced, was a predecessor to the full conversion of an Army base to JP-8 as a final demonstration prior to the conversion within NATO. Fort Bliss, located near El Paso, TX, was converted to F-34 (JP-8) beginning February 1989.

The United States Department of Defense has proposed the use of one fuel for combat, JP-8, in ground vehicles and equipment as well as in aircraft. To support this proposal, the Defense Fuel Supply Center (DFSC) requested that samples of JP-8, JP-5, and Jet A-1 from worldwide sources representing tenders of products destined for DOD bases be evaluated. Properties affecting diesel engine operation, i.e., cetane number, calculated cetane indices, kinematic viscosities at 40° and 70°C, and net heat of combustion were evaluated and compared to the requirements of Federal Specification VV-F-800D and NATO F-54. Several inspection tests were also conducted, and the data were compared to that information supplied by the refiners. A total of 91 samples of JP-8, 2 Jet A-1 samples, and 63 JP-5 samples were analyzed. The results showed that a large majority of the samples met the DF-A/DF-1 specification requirements. Frequency histograms and other statistics for many properties are presented.

This report covers work undertaken at the U.S. Army Fuels and Lubricants Research Laboratory to develop a laboratory bench procedure for the evaluation of dispersant-detergent gasoline additive effectiveness used for the control and/or inhibition of carburetor and engine intake system deposition. The development of the synthetic crankcase off-gas liquid in Phase I of this project has made it possible to develop a bench procedure that correlates to actual engine results in: 1. The carburetor throttle plate and throat area, 2. The induction system (port and valve areas), and 3. Additive effectiveness. The apparatus is simple in design and operation, and provides the advantage of evaluating both carburetor and intake deposits simultaneously.