Elastomer is one of the important material for the hoses, sealants and tubes in the components of fuel delivery system in diesel engine vehicles due to the factor of compatibility with diesel fuel. However, concern were arise that presence of alcohol, fatty acid component and other factors such as water content in the alternative fuels which is blended biodiesel fuel and different chemical composition from the diesel fuel may increase further uncertainty to the consumer of diesel engine or diesel engine manufacturers in terms of compatibility issue. Thus this paper intends to assess current and typical test standards on their efficacy of representing the fuel system of diesel engine vehicles. Respectively, ASTM D471 are based on laboratory immersion studies and the experimental conditions are differ from the real service conditions in the fuel system of diesel engine vehicles. Even though number of previous studies regarding to the compatibility of elastomer components has been reported, there is a need to set up the exact material that present in the fuel system of diesel engine vehicles. This is especially right for elastomers since their resistance is mainly depends on their elemental compositions. As such, introduction of the dynamic testing approach that may be applied when assessing the compatibility study between blended biodiesel fuel that simulate the actual fuel system of a diesel engine vehicles before carrying out in the field trials.
Over the years, concern on the compatibility issue of the blended biodiesel fuel with non-metal material components in diesel engine vehicles had received many attentions. Assessing the compatibility of non-metal material components like elastomer and plastics usually rely on the measurement of mechanical and physical properties such as tensile strength, elongation, hardness, surface morphology, weight and volume changes. These properties are typically measured after the static immersion test is done accordingly to the ASTM D471. However, data and results given from the static immersion test is only applicable when the samples are in a static condition and not in a dynamic situation. Thus, this paper attempts to review some common issues related to the biodiesel fuel and non-metal components and introducing the dynamic testing approach that can be applied when assessing the compatibility study of biodiesel fuel with some potential problems that might be encountered.
Biodiesel fuel can be used in diesel engine in accordance to the standard provided. However, a significant issue with biodiesel fuel was noted. Some of the fuel quality were outside the accepted range of the specification stated in the standard. Thus, this can be lead to the problem of utilization them in diesel engine. Moreover, material compatibility is the main concern whenever the fuel composition is altered in the fuel system. A large variety of metals and nonmetals are worn as the material of construction for the various components of the fuel system. Introduction of biodiesel fuel often generate many problems in the components of the fuel system. This paper attempts to present the compatibility issue related to the use of biodiesel with automotive materials.
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