Postby ramishrrr » December 14th, 2015, 6:18 pm
Hi All,
Over the years I was always tempted to answer the question of "bad diesel" or of sulphur content in the diesel fuel that is being sold in T&T, but always hesitated, as there are too many unfounded declarations by people who really do not know.
Diesel fuel is a mixture of Light Gas Oil and Kerosene, fractionated from de-sulphurized Heavy Gas Oil.
(The Heavy Gas Oil is "Hydro-cracked" to give lighter products as Light Gas Oil, Kerosene and Naphtha.)
Heavy Gas Oil is distilled from Reduced Crude Oil.
Reduced Crude Oil is Crude Oil from which Gasolines and Light Kerosenes are removed.
Crude Oil is a fossil fuel, a hydrocarbon extracted from the earth.
Crude Oil found in Trinidad can have over 1.0% by weight of Sulphur, or even more.
That means, if you de-sulphurize 100 tonnes of Gas Oil containing 1% by weight sulphur, you can extract 1 tonne of Sulphur.
The De-Sulphurizing of Heavy Gas oil is done at the Petrotrin Pointe a Pierre refinery using high pressure Hydrogen gas.
After the process, the Light Gas Oil would have 0.019% by weight of Sulphur, or even less.
That means in every 100,000 tones of Light Gas Oil you would have 19 tones of sulphur.
There is even less Sulphur in the other diesel component, Kerosene.
Why is Sulphur removed from all fuels ?
Sulphur burnt in fuel comes in contact with Oxygen.
It combines with the Oxygen to form Sulphur Dioxide gas, or Sulphur Trioxide gas.
When these gases go up into the atmosphere, the SO2 combines with moisture to form Sulphurous Acid.
The SO3 combines with moisture to form Sulphuric Acid.
We are talking ACID RAIN here peeps!!!
Then with the amount of Diesel engine exhausts we have in T&T, these gases as would wreak havoc on the public's respiratory systems. SO2 and SO3 are certainly not good for the human lungs. They are extreme irritants, promoting permanent damage.
And your exhaust systems would corrode away fast, fast.
Fuel (Hydrocarbon) burns to give water.
Water combines with the acid gases to form acids in your muffler when the car engine is shut off.
In short order your exhaust systems will eat away.
Petrotrin, is constructing an Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel plant that would re-process the components of diesel fuel, to further reduce the Sulphur content of diesel fuel sold in T&T. It is not about the improving the combustibility of the diesel fuel.
The entire modern world seeks to prevent pollution as much as possible, hence the reduction of Sulphur in fuels. Everything is about GREEN this and GREEN that!
THE SULPHUR PRESENT IN DIESEL FUEL IN TRINIDAD, HAS A VERY SMALL, IF ANY, ROLE TO PLAY IN THE MALFUNCTIONING OF THE MODERN DIESEL ENGINE !
Because of the evolution of engine management systems, there are many parameters for malfunction in the modern engine. Sensors, pollution control systems, fragile electronics contribute to this. The vibration of a diesel engine does not help either.
The turbos in diesel engines are the life…….and death of the engines.
Many of the older non-turbo engines go on and on like the Energizer, all be it much slower. They do not have the sophisticated systems like the modern Navara, Hilux and others.
Filtration Systems are needed for all motor vehicles to remove particles in the fuel.
The mainly carbon-steel components in the refining towers, pipework, storage tanks, tank wagons and gas station underground storage tanks rust a lot. In our tropical humid climate, water vapor is present everywhere as well as the atmosphere. This promotes corrosion.
Rust particles and others, need to be removed from your diesel fuel, as it would promote wear in your fuel system………..contributing to improper combustion ratios.
The modern Common Rail Diesel Injection system pressures the fuel at extremely high figures to atomize the fuel, so you could have rapid combustion. Particles present would wear your pump and injectors prematurely. They need to be filtered out.
Since you have no control on the processes from Crude Oil to the gas station pump, then you have to manage it, before it goes to the engine. That is why you have to ensure that your filters etc. are functioning well. Change them periodically, and pay attention to check lights.
As engines get older, increase the frequency of your oil changes.
Please note that I still believe that in terms of dollars and cents, it is NOT cost-effective to buy and maintain a diesel vehicle, rather than a gasoline vehicle, for personal purposes. But that can be discussed later.
Oh…………by the way, I worked in the Petrotrin Refinery for 41 years, most of it making diesel fuel !!
Peace.
RR.
Last edited by
ramishrrr on December 15th, 2015, 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
