Evaluation of Sta-Power Fuel Additive


                                             72-16
    EVALUATION OF STA-POWER
         FUEL ADDITIVE
         February 1972
        Henry L. Gompf
  Test and Evaluation Branch
Environmental Protection Agency

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Background

Sta-Power fuel additive is being marketea as an emission
reduction compound when mixed in the specified proportions
with ..gasoline. While it is assumed that its intended.
effect is a detergent one, it was desired to determine
whether there \vas an immediate e.ffect on emissions. An
immediate effect would indicate that Sta-Powereffects the
chemical properties of the fuel or the reactions in the
combustion process. No attempt to measure the results of
its detergent action was made. The extent of any reduction
of emissions with long term use of Sta-Power would be de-
pendent on the condition of carburetor and engine parts.
Control Technique

Sta-Power is a petroleum based product marketed by the
Sta-Power Company of San Rafael, California. It is added
to the fuel tank at a rate of one ounce of Sta-Power per
gallon of gasoline.
Test Program

A 1970 Plymouth Valiant with a 225 CID six cylinder engine
was used for the emission testing. The car was operated
on the chassis dynamometer at 50 miles per hour to allow
the engine to reach normal operating temperatures. Baseline
7-mode cycles (as used for the 1968 Federal Emission Test
Procedures) were run using Indolene 30 test fuel. At com-
pletion of the baseline cycles the vehicle was allowed to
run out of fuel. The vehicle was then run several minutes
using a mixture of Indolene 30 and Sta-Power. Two more
7-mode cycles were run followed by fuel runout. Finally
two more cycles were run with pure Indolene 30.
For the baseline and additive tests, continuous emission
measuring was used. Emission values were calculated accord-
ing to the 1968 Federal Emission Test Procedure. NDIR
instrumentation was used to measure hydrocarbon, carbon
monoxide,. carbon dioxode, and nitric oxide emissions from
th~ vehicle tailpipe. A hot start test was employed to
eliminate cold start variability which might have masked
any additive effect. Continuous tailpipe analysis enabled
comparison of the additive's effect on each engine operating
mode.

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Re suI ts
The modal analysis data is presented in the Appendix.' The
effect on Sta-Power is summarized in the following table:
ffect of Sta-Power from Baseline
Mode   HC  CO   NO 
Idle  no ef f e c t no effect no effect
0-25 Accel no ef fe c t slight red. no effect
30 Cruise slight inc. slight inc. slight red.
30-15 Decel no ef fe c t no effe ct slight red.
15 Cruise no effect slight inc. reduction
15-30 Cruise no effect no ef f e c t slight inc.
50-20 Decel slight red. no effect no effe ct
Hot .7-mode Cycles
Weighted & Averaged
Sta-Power
HC ' CO NO
133. 7 ppm .57% 1425.2 ppm
132.8 ppm .57% 1447.5 ppm
Baseline
As can be seen, no significant effect on Sta-Power was measured.
Conclusions
Sta-Power has no immediate chemical or combustion effect
which results in an emission reduction. No evaluation of
long term detergent effect was made.
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  ApPENDIX   
 MODE-BY-MODE STA-POWER ADDITIVE A.NALYSIS
    .~ 
  Pre-Baseline S ta - Po\Ve.r Post-Baseline
IDLE  Average . Average Average
 HC 118.7 ppm 113.4 ppm 109.1 ppm
 CO 1. 89 % 1. 72 %  1. 59%
 C02 12.46% 12.63%  12.66%
 NO 4.5 ppm 4.5 ppm 4.5 ppm
0-25 ACCEL    
 HC 124.6 ppm 118..9 pprn 116.1 ppm
 CO .51% .38%  .42%
 C02 13.09 % 13.14%  13.15%
 NO 1320.9 pprn 1427.1 ppm 1528.5 ppm
30 CRUISE    
 HC 102.3 ppm 108.4 ppm 97. 3 ppm
 CO .16% .19%  .12%
 C02 13. 36 % 13.85%  13.51%
 NO 1302.4 ppm 944.9 ppm 1196.5 ppm
30-15 DE CE L    
 NO 99.7 ppm 95 . 7 ppm 87.8 ppm
 CO 1.59% 1. 53%  1.26%
 C02 12.85% 12.86%  13.06%
 NO 250.3 pprn 221. 4 pprn 26 4 . 8 pp m

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  Pre-Baseline Sta-Power Post-Baseline
  Average Average Average
15 CRUISE  -'" 
   .. 
 HC 1 32 . 8 P pm 120.2 ppm 116.5 ppm
 CO 1. 47% 1.50% 1.21%
 C02 12.95% 12.79% 13.17%
 NO 11. 3 ppm 6. 1 ppm 39.5 ppm
15 - 30 ACCEL   
 HC 123.8 ppm 120.0 ppm 115.5 ppm
 CO .34 % .28% .23%
 C02 13.14% 1.3.28% 13.29%
 NO 1808.'5 ppm 1918.8 ppm 1737.8 ppm
50-20 DECEL   
 HC 419.1 ppm 408 . 4 ppm 481. 8 ppm
 CO 1. 78% 1.72% 1. 46%
 C02 12.85% 12.95% 12.80%
 NO 379.0 ppm 373.7 ppm 322.9 ppm
CYCLES WEIGHTED & AVERAGED  
 HC 137.0 ppm 132.8 ppm .130.3 ppm
 CO .64% .57% .50%
 .C02   
 NO 1425.3 ppm 1447.5 ppm 1425.0 ppm
~,-~. --- ._.,

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