Improving Diesel Lubricity in Refinery Blending

The refinery needed to address diesel lubricity during changes in production and blending requirements. Sample testing identified a treatment need, and the site evaluated an additive program using its fuel streams and existing injection arrangements.

The immediate objective was to improve the measured lubricity response of the refinery’s diesel. The comparison needed to connect treatment addition with a defined laboratory result that could be assessed against the project’s acceptance criteria.

The refinery introduced lubricity treatment through its additive-injection systems and compared samples at different treatment levels. HFRR wear-scar diameter was the principal reported measure. The results were reviewed against the project’s lubricity objective as part of selecting the blending treatment.

The case summary reports smaller wear scars in each of the displayed treated-sample comparisons. This supports the reported lubricity response for those samples and test conditions. The measurements describe fuel-sample performance; engine durability would require a separate evaluation.

A new evaluation should use representative blend samples and the customer’s applicable acceptance criteria. Base-fuel composition and the existing additive package should be recorded with sample preparation and test conditions. Lubricity results should form part of the refinery’s wider finished-fuel assessment before an operating treatment is selected.