A Test Method to Measure Gasoline Lubricity

The lubricity of gasoline is the least understood of all three types of liquid fuels (aviation kerosene,diesel fuel and gasoline fuel), due largely to the lack of a reliable test method for measuring the lubricity of such a much volatile and contamination sensitive material. A simple and easy to use HFRR gasoline test method has been successfully developed by(i) redesigning the fuel bath/reciprocating ball holder system to solve the high volatility problem of gasoline in HFRR tests, (ii) enclosing HRFF in a sealable perspex box with a hole fitted with a ground perspex plug for convenient humidity control, (iii) using water vapour pressure (WVP) instead of relative humidity (RH) as an index of humidity to correctly reflect the true water content in the air, and (iv) designing a very strict cleaning procedure so as to avoid cross contamination and guarantee good repeatability. It has been found that HFRR test method has good repeatability and differentiating ability.