TUNAP Fuel Symposium: Deposits on Injectors and Inlet Valves Increasingly Irritate the Automotive Industry.

Diesel, Super, E10, B7: the choice at the pump is becoming ever more complex. Legislation that differs by country, very demanding engine technology and increasingly stiff exhaust standards ensure that harmony between vehicle and fuel is becoming a thing of the past. As a result chemical processes in the fuel system often cause contamination, deposits, carbonisation and pigmentation.

TUNAP held its first on this subject on the 28th and 29th of June 2012 on our Wolfratshausen premises. Leading representatives of the automotive industry, its suppliers and automotive maintenance specialists exchanged expertise on the effects of the new fuels on fuel system cleanliness and what measures they could all take to prevent contamination.

The bio proportion in each new fuel shows that fuels are no longer necessarily comparable with one another. The world’s fuels now range from E0 (no ethanol) to E100 (exclusively ethanol).

This has far-reaching consequences for all the components that come into contact with fuel and those engine pipes and lines that can be corroded, contaminated or otherwise ¬harmed by such fuels and thus have a shorter service life than before.

The same is true of (bio) diesel, which introduces new life into the tank. Micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi thrive, especially when the vehicle stands unused for a long time, and their metabolism may convert the fuel in the worst case into sludge.

Salt-like contamination in fuel has led to increased deposits in injector nozzles in the last two years. Consumption and CO2 emissions skyrocket and performance gradually declines.

In winter at 8 degrees Centigrade below zero diesel client A cannot get his car to move whereas diesel client B has no problems at all. This is despite the diesel fuel in both cases complying with all the applicable legal requirements. Oil companies cannot help much as they supply widely varying additives and fuel formulae.

Fuel supply systems are also affected by other factors than mere fuel characteristics. More and more demanding exhaust gas requirements mean that exhaust gases are increasingly mixed with ingested air. Modern direct injection engines suffer major depositing on inlet valves for all these reasons as well as from the fumes generated by ever thinner engine oils. All this negatively affects fuel consumption and performance. Contamination may also be caused by driving habits. Longer periods of disuse than before, traffic jams and short trips all contribute to the generation of harmful deposits.

The TUNAP fuel symposium has begun the process of mutual investigation of the current inherent conflicts of intentions and of building up mutual understanding by exchanging know-how. New additive concepts contribute less to a Formula One feeling for motorists but rather, and far more importantly, to preserving fuel systems.

This includes keeping injection nozzle apertures, which nowadays have the diameter of a human hair, free of coking and deposits. The fuel and intake system cleansing methods presented by TUNAP in a practical demo have met with great interest from major automotive manufacturers.

They help get motor vehicles back on the road economically and to compensate for the problems and difficulties we mentioned. Manufacturers, the oil industry, additive manufacturers and suppliers of components will in future make greater efforts to ensure that changes in fuel requirements such as those currently sought by the EU do not lead to any loss in mobility. Worthy aims such as reducing CO2 emissions would not be worthwhile if the cost was increased contamination of fuel systems and a much higher breakdown risk. Customer satisfaction and brand loyalty are based on reliability and service quality rather than image and design.

Manufacturers who make every effort to eliminate unwelcome side effects on fuels and fuel systems greatly improve their public image.

They also avoid garage problems and costs due to such effects, the expense of which can easily exceed the average motorist’s monthly income.