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diesel fuel
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diesel fuel

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DIESEL FUEL

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Alternate titles: diesel oil
By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica • Edit History

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Table of Contents
four-stroke diesel engine
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Related Topics: biodiesel cetane number fuel ...(Show more)
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diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, combustible liquid used as fuel for diesel
engines, ordinarily obtained from fractions of crude oil that are less volatile
than the fractions used in gasoline. In diesel engines the fuel is ignited not
by a spark, as in gasoline engines, but by the heat of air compressed in the
cylinder, with the fuel injected in a spray into the hot compressed air. Diesel
fuel releases more energy on combustion than equal volumes of gasoline, so
diesel engines generally produce better fuel economy than gasoline engines. In
addition, the production of diesel fuel requires fewer refining steps than
gasoline, so retail prices of diesel fuel traditionally have been lower than
those of gasoline (depending on the location, season, and taxes and
regulations). On the other hand, diesel fuel, at least as traditionally
formulated, produces greater quantities of certain air pollutants such as sulfur
and solid carbon particulates, and the extra refining steps and emission-control
mechanisms put into place to reduce those emissions can act to reduce the price
advantages of diesel over gasoline. In addition, diesel fuel emits more carbon
dioxide per unit than gasoline, offsetting some of its efficiency benefits with
its greenhouse gas emissions.

Several grades of diesel fuel are manufactured—for example, “light-middle” and
“middle” distillates for high-speed engines with frequent and wide variations in
load and speed (such as trucks and automobiles) and “heavy” distillates for low-
and medium-speed engines with sustained loads and speeds (such as trains, ships,
and stationary engines). Performance criteria are cetane number (a measure of
ease of ignition), ease of volatilization, and sulfur content. The highest
grades, for automobile and truck engines, are the most volatile, and the lowest
grades, for low-speed engines, are the least volatile, leave the most carbon
residue, and commonly have the highest sulfur content.

Read More on This Topic
automobile: Diesel
After World War II the diesel engine, particularly for light trucks and taxis,
became popular in Europe because of its superior fuel economy...

Sulfur is a critical polluting component of diesel and has been the object of
much regulation. Traditional “regular” grades of diesel fuel contained as much
as 5,000 parts per million (ppm) by weight sulfur. In the 1990s “low sulfur”
grades containing no more than 500 ppm sulfur were introduced, and in the
following years even lower levels of sulfur were required. Regulations in the
United States required that by 2010 diesel fuels sold for highway vehicles be
“ultra-low sulfur” (ULSD) grades, containing a maximum of 15 ppm. In the
European Union, regulations required that from 2009 diesel fuel sold for road
vehicles be only so-called “zero-sulfur,” or “sulfur-free,” diesels, containing
no more than 10 ppm. Lower sulfur content reduces emissions of sulfur compounds
implicated in acid rain and allows diesel vehicles to be equipped with highly
effective emission-control systems that would otherwise be damaged by higher
concentrations of sulfur. Heavier grades of diesel fuel, made for use by
off-road vehicles, ships and boats, and stationary engines, are generally
allowed higher sulfur content, though the trend has been to reduce limits in
those grades as well.


Learn the process of producing biodiesel from rapeseed oil
Learn how biodiesel is made.
Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, MainzSee all videos for this article

In addition to traditional diesel fuel refined from petroleum, it is possible to
produce so-called synthetic diesel, or Fischer-Tropsch diesel, from natural gas,
from synthesis gas derived from coal (see coal utilization), or from biogas
obtained from biomass. Also, biodiesel, a biofuel, can be made primarily from
oily plants such as the soybean or oil palm. These alternative diesel fuels can
be blended with traditional diesel fuel or used alone in diesel engines without
modification, and they have very low sulfur content. Alternative diesel fuels
are often proposed as means to reduce dependence on petroleum and to reduce
overall emissions, though only biodiesel can provide a life cycle carbon dioxide
benefit.

Seven grades of diesel fuel specified by the American Society of Testing and
Materials are shown in the table.

Diesel fuel grades* grade properties and uses maximum sulfur content (ppm)
*Based on the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) D975 "Standard
Specification for Diesel Fuel Oils." 1-D S15 a special-purpose light-middle
distillate for use in applications requiring a fuel with 15 ppm sulfur (maximum)
and higher volatility than that provided by Grade No. 2-D S15 fuel 15 1-D S500 a
special-purpose light-middle distillate for use in applications requiring a fuel
with 500 ppm sulfur (maximum) and higher volatility than that provided by Grade
No. 2-D S500 fuel 500 1-D S5000 a special-purpose light-middle distillate for
use in applications requiring a fuel with 5,000 ppm sulfur (maximum) and higher
volatility than that provided by Grade No. 2-D S5000 fuels 5,000 2-D S15 a
general-purpose middle distillate for use in applications requiring a fuel with
15 ppm sulfur (maximum); especially suitable for use in applications with
conditions of varying speed and load 15 2-D S500 a general-purpose middle
distillate for use in applications requiring a fuel with 500 ppm sulfur
(maximum); especially suitable for use in applications with conditions of
varying speed and load 500 2-D S5000 a general-purpose middle distillate for use
in applications requiring a fuel with 5,000 ppm sulfur (maximum); especially
suitable for conditions of varying speed and load 5,000 4-D a heavy distillate
fuel, or a blend of distillate and residual oil, for use in low- and
medium-speed diesel engines in applications involving predominantly constant
speed and load

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised
and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.



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 * U.S. Energy Information Administration - Diesel Fuel Explained

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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "diesel fuel". Encyclopedia
Britannica, 18 Oct. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/technology/diesel-fuel.
Accessed 22 April 2022.
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 * U.S. Energy Information Administration - Diesel Fuel Explained