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   Fuel or oil additives for diesel traction  evaluated  
The characteristics of diesel combustion can be modified by subjoining additives to the fuel or motor oil. This may improve fuel economy and/or reduce pollution.
Technology field: Optimisation of traction technologies
close main section General information
  close sub-section Description
    The characteristics of diesel combustion can be modified by subjoining additives to the fuel or motor oil. This may improve fuel economy and/or reduce pollution. Additives to motor oil are supposed to improve fuel economy due to reduced interior engine friction and improved sealing of pistons in cylinder. There are different products available on the market including Energie release, Metabond and Friction Wedge. Additives to diesel fuel mainly aim at emission control. Some suppliers however do claim an improved fuel economy as well. Water-diesel emulsions are not discussed here since they reduce NOx emission but are not known to improve fuel economy.

Fields of application: Additives are currently applied in the automotive sector. In principle, a transfer to railways seems feasible.

close main section General criteria
  close sub-section Status of development: research & experiments
    Additives can in principle be applied on railway vehicles. Experiences however cannot be directly transferred to railways because of higher engine power.
  Time horizon for broad application: in < 2 years
    (no details available)
  Expected technological development: (no data)
    (no details available)
    Motivation:
    Emission control and fuel economy. Possibly reduction of engine wear in some cases.
  Benefits (other than environmental): small
    Reduced engine wear
  Barriers: medium
    Tests and analysis at DB AG showed serious discrepancies between the effects claimed by manufacturers and real performance of motor oil additives.

Some motor oil additives (especially Energie Release) contain chlorine which improves engine lubrication, but poses serious waste problems since the old oil would have to be considered as hazardous waste. German DB AG therefore ruled out the use of Energie Release.

    Success factors:
    (no details available)
  Applicability for railway segments: medium
    Type of traction:  diesel
    Type of transportation:  passenger - main lines, passenger - regional lines, passenger - suburban lines, freight
    Diesel fleet.
    Grade of diffusion into railway markets:
  Diffusion into relevant segment of fleet: 0 %
  Share of newly purchased stock: not applicable
    No in-service use in railway sector known.
  Market potential (railways): medium
    If railways decided on a fleet-wide use, market potential would be considerable (entire diesel fleet).
    Example:
    No in-service use in railways known.
close main section Environmental criteria
  close sub-section Impacts on energy efficiency:
  Energy efficiency potential for single vehicle: < 2%
  Energy efficiency potential throughout fleet: < 1%
    Some suppliers of motor oil additives claim considerable reductions in fuel consumption:

Energie Release: 15%

Friction Wedge: at least 5%

Tests at DB AG however couldn’t establish any relation between the use of additives and diesel consumption.

According to diesel suppliers, some fuel additives may reduce fuel consumption by up to 3 %, but no details are given. In general substantial effects on fuel economy are doubtful.

  Other environmental impacts: negative
    Some additives contain chlorine which poses serious problems on waste disposal since it converts oil into hazardous waste. This is true for Energie Release and could also be the case for Metabond.
close main section Economic criteria
  close sub-section Vehicle - fix costs: none
    (no details available)
  Vehicle - running costs: (no data)
    Reduced if fuel economy is improved.
  Infrastructure - fix costs: none
    Additional infrastructure for supplying additives should be close to negligible.
  Infrastructure - running costs: unchanged
    (no details available)
  Scale effects: low
    If additives can be directly transferred from automotive sector to railways, additional scale effects from railway market are rather small.
  Amortisation: (no data)
    (no details available)
close main section Application outside railway sector
  close sub-section Status of development outside railway sector: in use
    (no details available)
  Time horizon for broad application outside railway sector: (no data)
    (no details available)
  Expected technological development outside railway sector: (no data)
    (no details available)
  Market potential outside railway sector: (no data)
    (no details available)
close main section Overall rating
  close sub-section Overall potential: not promising
  Time horizon: (no data)
    In view of doubtful efficiency gains and hazardous waste issues, additives presently do not seem promising for energy efficiency.
References / Links:  DB AG 1999;  Hörl, Klimmer 2001
Attachments:
Related projects:
Contact persons:
 date created: 2002-10-04
 
© UIC - International Union of Railways 2003