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Air pollution caused by diesel emissions, especially NOx, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons, has been a noteworthy matter. In Europe and the United States, legislative efforts towards improving air quality not only lead manufacturers to develop and introduce further improved emission control systems, but also the trigger demanding requirements on the oil industry towards producing advanced fuels. Therefore, much work on the effects of fuel properties on the emissions and engine performance has been performed worldwide. The fuels produced by the refineries usually comply with the existing specifications. However, alterations in the fuel properties may occur through the supply chain to the service stations due to failures of the distribution system or adulteration with lower value and taxation fuels (heating oil, marine diesel or industrial solvents).

In this paper, two diesel fuels were examined in a single cylinder diesel engine under an emissions measurement test of 72 hours total duration. The test cycle included steady state measurements and transient measurements. The two test fuels were a typical automotive diesel fuel, complying with the specifications of the EN 590 European standard for the year 2004 (sulfur content 350 mg/kg), and an ultra low sulfur diesel fuel containing 15% GTL, complying with the specifications of the EN 590 European standard for the year 2008 (sulfur content 10 mg/kg). Exhaust emissions measurements included gaseous pollutants (carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides), and particulate matter emissions. In all cases carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons emissions were very low. Nitrogen oxides emissions did not show a clear trend, indicating that this pollutant is affected mainly by the engine and less by the fuel.