A survey of the automotive diesel quality in the Athens area

Kalligeros, S; Zannikos, F; Stournas, S; Lois, E; Anastopoulos, G

dc.contributor.author	Kalligeros, S	en
dc.contributor.author	Zannikos, F	en
dc.contributor.author	Stournas, S	en
dc.contributor.author	Lois, E	en
dc.contributor.author	Anastopoulos, G	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:16:04Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:16:04Z
dc.date.issued	2001	en
dc.identifier.issn	0363-907X	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/13904
dc.subject	diesel quality	en
dc.subject	adulteration in diesel fuel	en
dc.subject	diesel fuel properties	en
dc.subject	sulphur	en
dc.subject	exhaust emissions	en
dc.subject.classification	Energy & Fuels	en
dc.subject.classification	Nuclear Science & Technology	en
dc.subject.other	FUEL	en
dc.title	A survey of the automotive diesel quality in the Athens area	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1002/er.764	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/er.764	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2001	en
heal.abstract	One of the most fuel-efficient engines available is the diesel engine. It is the engine of choice for the commercial and heavy-duty transportation industry. Increasingly stringent legislated exhaust emission levels are driving improvements in both engine technology and fuel quality around the world. This paper presents the results of a survey in automotive diesel samples obtained from service stations in the Athens area. For this purpose 112 fuel samples were randomly collected from several service stations during the period from April 1998 until June 1999. These samples are representative of the automotive diesel distributed in the Athens area from all the oil companies operating in Greece. The laboratory examination involved the analysis both for any adulteration with the cheaper domestic heating diesel or marine diesel, and for some key properties of the automotive diesel. The ASTM standard methods were applied for the determination of the sulphur and nitrogen content, the density at 15 degreesC, the Cetane index, the kinematic viscosity at 40 degreesC and the distillation properties of initial boiling point of the fuel (IBP), 10 per cent volume of the fuel (D-10), 50 per cent volume of the fuel (D-50), 90 per cent volume of the fuel (D-90) and the final boiling point (FBP). The results indicate that there is a large fluctuation in the fuel properties among the oil marketers. Forty-six samples were found to be adultered with the cheaper diesel (domestic heating or marine diesel fuel) during the sampling period, This means that more than 40 per cent of the automotive diesel distributed in Athens, suffers from some degree of adulteration. One sample was found to be outside the current specifications of density maybe due to contamination with white spirit. The fuel adulteration problem is associated with environmental pollution, problems in engine performance and tax losses. It is a common problem not only to the European countries but practically for every nation in the world. The European Union expressed recently its concern on this issue, mandating that by the year 2002 all the member states will promote the development of a uniform system for fuel quality monitoring. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.	en
heal.publisher	JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD	en
heal.journalName	INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1002/er.764	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000173003900005	en
dc.identifier.volume	25	en
dc.identifier.issue	15	en
dc.identifier.spage	1381	en
dc.identifier.epage	1390	en