FUELS & LUBRICANTS
TOTAL EXCELLIUM CONCENTRATE DIESEL
contains deposit control additive technology,
reducing deposit build-up up to 93%. Eliminating
carbonaceous deposit formation at the injector
nozzle tip contributes to improve the engine
efficiency and then save fuel. Furthermore, the
reduction in consumption directly results in a
reduction in CO 2 emissions.
engine vibration, fuel pump pulsations and
varying fuel flows, among other operating
conditions. Testing performance under real-world
dynamic challenges has become a mainstay
request for customers using HPCR systems. It is
an increasingly important tool to differentiate
filter technology and allow customers to make
the best decisions on how to protect fuel
injection systems.
High tech engines and fuel filtration
The high-pressure common-rail (HPCR) fuel
systems used in low-emission engines are much
more susceptible to damage from contaminants
20 times smaller than the diameter of human
hair. That means more stringent requirements for
fuel filtration, technology supplier Donaldson,
told IM. “Today, the industry is measuring high
efficiency closer to 99.9% for particles in the 4-
micron range. A fraction of a percentage point
can make a difference on whether a filtration
system can achieve the fuel cleanliness
requirements for HPCR components.”
Without effective, precise filtration both on
and off the vehicle, off-road operations can see
significant downtime from injector failures.
Advancements in fuel filtration are helping to
overcome the potential for downtime by meeting
the growing fuel cleanliness requirements of
modern engines.
“To respond to this need, advanced fuel filter
media use more synthetics and synthetic/micro-
glass formulations, and they rely on multi-layer
structures to achieve higher efficiency and long
life to achieve effective storage of both hard and
soft particles in the media. This is a key area of
fuel filter performance differentiation. As the
high-efficiency filter picks up more contaminants,
what could have passed through a filter in
previous generations can now contribute to
plugging today’s tighter filters. Proven media
technologies such as Donaldson's Synteq XP
address this by delivering a high level of
efficiency and contaminant retention.”
In addition to fuel filter media advances, fuel
filtration solutions are engineered at the system
level. “Today, it is common to use a fuel filtration
system that utilises more than one filter, each
with different purposes and varying degrees of
performance. Donaldson also encourages
filtration upgrades at the bulk storage stage to
head off contamination and fuel quality problems
before they reach the fleet.”
“As the filtration industry looks to the future,
we are continuing to evolve and refine the
technology,” says Jason DeGuelle, Product
Manager – Engine Filtration, Donaldson
Company. “Advancements are also being made to
ensure that filtration R&D takes into account the
environments in which they ultimately operate —
such as the mining industry.”
DeGuelle adds that this includes factoring in
22 International Mining | JULY 2019
Purify Fuel & Solvay’s nanO2 fuel
additives
Purify Fuel and Solvay say they have developed a
nanotechnology-based fuel additive blend
designed to improve fuel efficiency, increase
power and reduce harmful emissions in existing
diesel-powered engines.
First marketed 18 years ago, Solvay EOLYS Fuel
Additives, an essential element in Purify Fuel’s
fuel additive formulations (nanO2 ® ), have been
used in more than 16 million new engines with
similar nanotech combustion catalysts. They are
designed to reduce greenhouse gases and
regulate emissions while improving fuel
efficiency.
Through this effort, Purify Fuel’s nanO2 Fuel
Additive Blends leverage Solvay’s
nanotechnology expertise to create diesel fuel
additive blends that reduce harmful emissions
while improving fuel efficiency, Purify Fuel said.
“The nanO2 Fuel Additive Blends can be
introduced without any upfront costs to the 400
million diesel engines not already equipped with
pollution control devices,” the company said.
John Carroll, CEO of Purify Fuel, said: “It is
exciting to be part of this partnership, and to be
working on a technology that will make
meaningful impacts to transform the rail, marine,
fracking, mining and power generation
industries, leading to a significant reduction in
harmful emissions on a global scale. While we all
know the world needs faster conversion to
renewable sources, there is still a great deal of
infrastructure that is operating on diesel that will
take years to convert. We have a proven solution
that is available now, that reduces costs, and
improves air quality.”
Sebastien Meric, Executive Vice President of
Solvay Special Chem, added: “We are pleased to
combine our 30 years of expertise in
technologies for exhaust emission control & fuel
efficiency with Purify Fuel to tackle both
increasing emission and fuel consumption
challenges.”
This global technology, which will be available
in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia,
provides advantages, according to the company,
such as reducing harmful emissions by up to 35-
55%; improved fuel efficiency offsets the cost of
the emissions-reducing fuel additive; and
operator savings of 6-12% on net fuel costs.
Carroll added: “If operators of existing engines
implemented nanO2 to reduce emissions by
30%, it would have the equivalent effect of
removing 100 million diesel trucks off our roads –
buying the world more time to implement smart
pollution control technologies.”
Validating fuel/lube claims at
equipment level
The demand for energy will continue to increase
as will the need to reduce carbon emissions
resulting from this increase in energy usage. Any
reduction in the use of hydrocarbons (diesel fuel)
as a result of improved combustion efficiency can
make significant savings to any company’s
bottom line. Canadian fuel analytics specialist
Blutip Technologies Corp points out that the
relentless pursuit of improved fuel efficiency and
lower operating costs has spurred rapid growth
in the marketing of ‘enhanced’ fuels and
lubricants. These formulations, additised with
detergents, stabilisers and corrosion inhibitors
are offered by most if not all leading
petrochemical suppliers and many lesser known
distributors.
“Efficiency impact claims vary tremendously
by product from the absurdly outlandish to the
undetectably conservative, while mining supply
chain professionals are left to sort it all out. Test
results supporting efficiency claims attributable
to these novel formulations are often presented
during the sales process, but most commonly
derive from laboratory testing or over-the-road
trucking trials. The decision to move forward with
an increased fuel or lube expenditure based on
the promise of reduced consumption is therefore
hampered by the risk that mining equipment will
not yield a similar benefit. The marketplace has
suffered with purchasers lacking trust, and real
innovation being undermined by bad actors.”
To combat the scepticism on the part of the
mines, large petrochemical companies have
begun offering in-service petrochemical trials to
large and strategic customers that demonstrate
the incremental value of their products. Blutip
Technologies specialises in high accuracy diesel
consumption measurement for the mining sector
and has seen steadily increasing interest in these
engagements.
“We have heard time and again from mining
companies that they are unwilling to base
procurement decisions on vendor supplied
laboratory results…suppliers have begun to step
up by funding in-service trials with the mines
facilitating the execution and allowing
publication of the findings,” Kevin Dagenais –
CEO Blutip Technologies, told IM.
Mining petrochemical trials are typically
executed in three phases. In the first phase, the
entire population is equipped with high accuracy
fuel measurement instrumentation. Blutip