FS6-11.08 Nov 2008 Fuel additives

Summary

As part of an integrated research programme looking at improving fuel efficiency for fishing vessels Seafish has tested eight diesel fuel additives for red diesel to assess manufacturer’s claims that their use leads to a reduction in fuel consumption. The results of the work indicate that there were no discernible improvements in fuel economy when using diesel fuel additives under test cell conditions. Only one additive showed a saving of around 1%. The other seven additives showed no significant effect on the fuel consumption of the test engine through the test cycle used. If the results from the tests are typical of real duty cycles, then the use of additives would increase operating costs for fisherman as they would have to pay for the additive as well as for the fuel.

Author

• Richard Caslake

Publication Reference No.

FS6-11.08

Publication date

01 November 2008