As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about Detroit Diesel efficiency breakthroughs, I went digging around the ‘net
looking for specifics. I didn’t find any, but I did stumble across the company’s patent for reducing engine wear. The
technique uses a combination of hydrocarbon fuel, water, and a surfactant to neutralize corrosion caused by exhaust gas
recirculation (EGR). It’s also possible to increase the cetane number of the injected fuel, depending on what compounds
are present in the injected fuel mixture. I’ve heard of using water to remove carbon deposits from an engine, but
obviously this takes it to another level. Despite the fact that this innovation is claimed to reduce measured wear in a
mere 1000 hours of operation, it’s probably not likely to see passenger car or light truck use because there’s simply
not many problems related to diesel engine wear in those markets.
Related post: Detroit Diesel announces efficiency
improvement