Diesel Fuel Lubricity Additive From Seed Oil

In order to meet the increasingly stringent air quality goals of the Federal Clean Air Act andAmendments (CAAA) major changes have been made in refining diesel fuel to remove sulfur.While reducing sulfur levels in diesel fuel lowers problematic emissions, it also reduces fuellubricity. Sulfur is an important element in combating wear in fuel injection systems.Hydrotreating the fuel for sulfur reduction results in much higher wear in high pressure fuelinjection pumps and causes erosion and corrosion problems in the injector systems. Commonanti-wear additives that could solve this problem contain sulfur, phosphorus, boron, or otherpolluting, ash-forming components.International Lubricants, Inc. (ILI) has successfully developed a number of lubricant additivesfrom derivatives of seed oils. These additives can be adducted to produce ash-less fuel additivesthat do not rely upon non-combustible compounds to coat metal surfaces. These adducts couldimprove lubricity to prevent corrosion and wear without affecting emissions. ILI proposes todevelop a specialty fuel additive that offers corrosion protection and anti-wear in diesel fuel atconcentrations that are low enough to be competitive with other additives.