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Environmentally adapted diesel fuels defined by the Swedish Government contain extremely low levels of sulphur and have limited aromatics contents. Road trials and pump durability tests of these fuels revealed unacceptable wear in injection pumps due to low lubricity. Additive solutions were identified using bench tests and then proven in field trials. Market experience has substantiated the findings that fuels using the chosen additive give fully satisfactory performance. This paper illustrates how practical solutions to lubricity questions can be found, and is applicable wherever specifications demand fuels requiring a high degree of hydroprocessing.

Significant differences have been observed in the behaviour of elastomeric seals exposed to various automotive diesel fuels. This behaviour is governed not only by the chemistry of the elastomer but also by the aromatic content of the fuel and is typical of elastomer/fluid interactions occurring under diffusion control. Although no significant differences were observed in the response of nitrile elastomers exposed to peroxides, the use of antioxidant additives in “low” aromatic diesel fuel needs to be considered. The normal seal housing design criterion is such that seal integrity should not be compromised by the use of “low” aromatic fuels in normal operating circumstances. Some three years' experience in the Swedish market supports this view.