Comparison of Used Locomotive Fuel Filters after Using B20 and B0 Fuels

Abstract

The automotive and non-automotive sectors have followed the Indonesian government's policy regarding applying high concentration biodiesel use. Some issues arise from the effects of using a high biodiesel concentration on engine components, such as filter blocking or degradation. Therefore, various parties have challenged to improve both in terms of fuel quality and engine components. Meanwhile, testing of high concentration biodiesel fuel (blending ratio above 10 %) was still rarely published in the rail transport sector. Therefore, the rail test aimed to evaluate the effect of B20 fuel on locomotive engine components. The test was conducted during two periodic maintenance (6 months) using two trains with B20 and B0 fuels as a comparison. This study discusses the effect of B20 on fuel filters by performing tests on used filters for one periodic maintenance (3 months). The morphological analysis of deposits was conducted using a digital microscope, while TGA, GC-MS, FTIR, and elemental analysis were used to determine its components. The results showed that biodiesel filtration in the main filter was higher, and the subsequent filtration showed fewer deposits than that of pure diesel. Various types of fuel filter deposits have been identified, such as hydrocarbons and fatty acid methyl esters.