Boundary lubrication of low‐sulphur diesel fuel in the presence of fatty acids

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents an overview of the effect of aliphatic acids on the tribological properties of selected hydrocarbons and petroleum fractions. The major experimental part of the work focuses on improvements to the lubricity of low‐sulphur diesel fuel. Experiments were carried out using a pin‐on‐disc friction machine and HFRR test rig. The wear results obtained clearly show a specific effect of the test acids dissolved in hydrocarbons in the concentration range 0.005–0.1% (50–1000 ppm). Although the overall picture presented by these results is very complex, it can be concluded that a very small amount of the selected acids dramatically improves low‐sulphur diesel fuel lubricity.