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Biodiesel blends are promising alternatives to diesel fuel, but, reduced quantitative information is available on the impact of biodiesel on engine systems behaviour, durability and economical aspects in fleet cost management. A representative sample of urban buses fuelled with B50 was compared with the same type of vehicle fuelled with conventional petroleum fuel. The objective was to assess the effects of B50 upon important parameters such as: fuel consumption, power loss and drivability; the effects on the fuel system and engine oil and the implications regarding the maintenance programme. These implications could be very relevant upon a fleet manager's decision to select biodiesel as an alternative fuel. The results obtained show that there was no difference in the serviceability of the buses fuelled with B50 compared with those fuelled with petroleum diesel fuel, and additionally, no change in the maintenance programme was required for this type of B50 fuel.

In this paper the effect of the engine load and the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) rate on the combustion process and the pollutant emissions when using RME (rapeseed methyl-ester) is investigated. For this purpose a parametric study in a single-cylinder HSDI (high speed direct injection) engine in a wide range of operating conditions (thus trying to maximize the generality of the results) has been carried out. All the output parameters are compared with the corresponding ones for a reference diesel fuel at equivalent engine performances and operating conditions. To perform a rigorous comparison, a specific methodology has been designed based on the comparison at equivalent engine load and oxygen mass fraction in the intake manifold, so as to remove the effect of the fuel properties (derived from the different oxygen content, mainly) on the engine performances.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a promising alternative fuel due to several main reasons, specially the strict engine emission regulations all over the world. This has made that lot's of cities have decided to use CNG as an alternative fuel in their urban transport fleets or in other urban tasks. Nevertheless, due to the recent implementation of the CNG technology in automotive sector, several problems related to lubrication have been detected, mostly affecting a reduction of the oil drain period and these problems showed no relationship with a particular fleet nor with the lubricant's brand used. These effects will have a very important weight on fleet manager's decision to select CNG as an alternative fuel, thus this reduction does not only increase the cost in engine oil, there are other maintenance actions referred to this basic period of oil drain, thus also increases other more significant costs.

Low viscosity engine oils are considered a feasible solution for improving fuel economy in internal combustion engines (ICE). So, the aim of this study was to verify experimentally the performance of low viscosity engine oils regarding their degradation process and possible related engine wear, since the use of low viscosity engine oils could imply higher degradation rates and/or unwanted wear performance. Potential higher wear could result in a reduction in life cycle for the ICE, and higher degradation rates would be translated in a reduction of the oil drain period, both of them non-desired effects. In addition, currently limited data are available regarding “real-world” performance of low viscosity engine oils in a real service fleet.

One of the most interesting alternatives to reduce friction losses in the internal combustion engines is the use of low viscosity engine oils. Recently, a new engine oil category focused fuel economy, has been released in North America encouraging the use of these oils in the heavy-duty vehicles’ segment. This paper presents the results of a comparative test where the differences in fuel consumption given by the use of these oils are shown. The test included 48 buses of the urban public fleet of the city of Valencia, Spain. The selected vehicles were of four different bus models, three of them fueled with diesel and the other one with compressed natural gas (CNG). Buses’ fuel consumption was calculated on a daily basis from refueling and GPS mileage. After three oil drain intervals (ODI), the buses using low viscosity engine oils presented a noticeable fuel consumption reduction. These results bear out the suitability of these oils to palliate engine inefficiencies.

Pure biodiesel is non-toxic, biodegradable and greenhouse gas neutral alternative fuel with potential successful future but reduced quantitative information is available about the impact of biodiesel on engine durability and long period usage effects. In this study, a commercial light duty Diesel engine installed on an engine test bench has been operated fuelled with pure biodiesel (B100 referred to the EN-14214 standard) during a period test of 300 hours in order to analyze engine performance and components behavior. A engine characterization has been completed using conventional diesel fuel (EN 590). Then, following a specific defined operation cycle and fuelled with pure biodiesel, a study over different engine components such as: engine oil, fuel filters, Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), so on, has been done in order to obtain possible negative effects and modifications required over maintenance policies applied to them.

This paper reports the results obtained in the ECOBUS Project. This project has been supported by the LIFE Program, one of the spearheads of European Union's environmental policy. The main aim for this project was to convert used cooking oil into biodiesel and then use this biodiesel in urban buses, contributing to reducing in one hand waste cooking oil that can create problems in the drainage city system and water contamination and on the other hand reducing engine polluting emissions. Departamento de Máquinas y Motores Térmicos (DMMT) facilities at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain) were used to conduct detailed performance and emission measurements in a Diesel engine similar to those used by the urban transport operator in Valencia (Empresa Municipal de Transporte, EMT). The test engines were operated with conventional Diesel fuel (EN 590) and three different biodiesel blends: 30, 50 and 70%, using the pure biodiesel obtained from used cooking oil (EN 14214).

Due to the increasingly stringent emissions standards in the world and, on the other hand, the foreseen shortage of fossil fuels, the application of low viscosity engine oils (LVO) is considered one of the most interesting options for counter these threats. In parallel to a fuel consumption fleet test, the aim of this study was to assess the performance of commercial low viscosity oils regarding their degradation and engine wear, since the use of LVO could imply an increase in wear rate. Potential higher engine wear could result in a reduction in the expected engine life cycle, obviously is a non-desired effect. In addition, currently limited data are available regarding “real-world” performance of LVO in a real service fleet.

This paper shows the results of a fuel consumption in-use comparison test where the effect of Low Viscosity Oils (LVO) was evaluated over a sample of 39 urban buses powered by Diesel and CNG engines. The aim of the test was to verify the fuel consumption benefits of LVO in Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDV) found in previous works, which were obtained mainly in engine test bench, when engines are working on “on-Road” conditions. In order to achieve this goal, a sample of 39 urban buses was studied over an Oil Drain Interval or 30.000 km (approximately an 11 month period), measuring daily mileage and fuel consumed to calculate each bus fuel consumption. Mileage was measured by GPS and fuel consumed was measured from refueling system. The sample was divided into two groups; a control group of buses using reference oils (SAE grade viscosities of 15W-40 and 10W-40) and a candidate group using LVO oils (SAE grade viscosities 5W-30).