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Biodiesel Fuel (BDF) Research Work Group works on identifying technological issues on the use of high biodiesel blends (over 5 mass%) in conventional diesel vehicles under the Japan Auto-Oil Program started in 2007. The Work Group conducts an analytical study on the issues to develop measures to be taken by fuel products and vehicle manufacturers, and to produce new technological findings that could contribute to the study of its introduction in Japan, including establishment of a national fuel quality standard covering high biodiesel blends. For evaluation of the impacts of high biodiesel blends on performance of diesel particulate filter system, a wide variety of biodiesel blendstocks were prepared, ranging from some kinds of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) to another type of BDF such as hydrotreated biodiesel (HBD). Evaluation was mainly conducted on blend levels of 20% and 50%, but also conducted on 10% blends and neat FAME in some tests.

Under high-pressure conditions such as those existing in a common-rail system, a serious concern is the possibility of wax precipitation from diesel fuels and the consequent deterioration in the diesel engine performance, even if the temperature is higher than the CP (cloud point) of the fuel. By using a diesel engine with a common-rail system, high-acceleration tests were performed under high-load conditions for three test fuels, which correspond to Japanese JIS grade 2 diesel fuels but have different cold-temperature properties, at a temperature exceeding their CPs. The test revealed differences in the engine speed and the throttle position among the test fuels. It was suggested that there was a possibility of a fault in fuel injection caused by the wax precipitation at high pressure.