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A new diesel fuel additive formulation is described which features reduced particulate emissions versus conventional diesel fuel. This new additive formulation contains a unique combustion improver that provides immediate and sustained reductions in particulate emissions and black smoke. Extensive testing of reduced black smoke performance was conducted with buses, trucks, vans, taxis and passenger cars in the U.K., France, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Japan, and the U.S. An average immediate reduction in black smoke of 22% (up to 80%) was found for all vehicles when tested with additized versus unadditized fuel. Immediate reductions in particulate emissions were 16% on average (up to 30%) with the additized versus base fuel in light-duty vehicles (ECE 15 + EUDC testing) and heavy-duty engines (ECE R49 testing). Engine durability and performance tests showed no detrimental effect with the additized diesel fuel.

The petroleum and motor industries in Europe have recognized the need to establish realistic test procedures to evaluate the driveability performance of cars and fuels. This has been achieved within the Coordinating European Council (CEC) by the CF-24 Working Group, which was formed in 1978. The establishment of a cold weather driveability test procedure and the initial progress to design a hot fuel handling test procedure have been described in previous papers by members of this group. This paper reviews studies carried out in Europe in 1982/1983. The consolidated hot fuel handling test procedure was used to test 23 vehicles on a track in Southern Italy. Four of these vehicles which are prone to vapor lock, with the test fuels used under these ambient conditions were subsequently used to establish the correlation between tests conducted on the track and on indoor chassis dynamometers, as well as the repeatibility and the reproducibility of the test method.

This paper reviews studies in Europe during the summer of 1977 to investigate the possibility of expanding gasoline supply through relaxation of existing Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) volatility specifications. Performance parameters investigated included vehicle vapor lock and hot weather driveability under both controlled and consumer operation. Overall, it appears that some existing RVP specifications could be relaxed and still provide satisfactory consumer protection levels. This would permit more optimum utilization of available high volatility, high octane gasoline components and expand gasoline product yields while minimizing crude requirements.