A simplified test procedure for evaluating railway diesel fuel additives at reduced cost and time relative to existing Association of American Railroads (AAR) Recommended Practice RP-503 test procedure is introduced in the paper. The emphasis is placed on critical issues considered for obtaining accurate and reliable test results during the procedure development. Results from procedure verification test are reviewed in discussions of these issues. It is pointed out that information of additives, reliable control and data recording systems, identical engine components can minimize experimental errors, and repeatability analysis of experimental measurements reveals test errors. In addition, elaborating of test methodology can eliminate systematic errors and thereby improve measurement precision. Finally, a comparison between results of an RP-503 test and a Simplified Fuel Additive Test (SFAT) using the same fuel additive product is presented.

Topics:
Diesel, Railroads, Errors, Fuels, Accuracy and precision, Engines
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Copyright © 2002
 by ASME
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