Technical Paper
The Characterisation of Diesel Internal Injector Deposits by Focused Ion-Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy.
2015-09-01
2015-01-1826
The effect of legislation in driving towards lower emissions has seen significant changes in injector design, (common- rail) and fuel composition (ULSD). This has led to numerous reports of deposits throughout the vehicle diesel system, filters, tanks, pumps and injectors. In recent examples, deposits internal to the fuel injector on the needle have become prevalent and characterisation of the deposits on the injector needle has become an industry priority. A number of studies have made progress on this but the deposits have proven difficult to fully characterise and often have an ineradicable nature, which makes analysis other than in situ difficult. This paper will describe for the first time the application of a number of surface techniques, in combination which not only provide characterisation data but also the ability to provide cross-sectional lifts out of the sample, which may then be the subject of further analysis.
