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 marketed 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 vias an immediate effect on emissions. An
immediate effect would indicate that Sta-Power effects 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
the" 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 e.ffect on each engine operating
mode.
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Results
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
Idle
0-25 Accel
30 Cruise
30-15 Decel
15 Cruise
15-30 Cruise
50-20 Decel
HC
no effect
no effect
CO
no effect
slight red.
slight inc. slight -inc.
no 'effect .no effect
no effect
no effect
slight red.
slight inc.
no effect
no effect
NO
no effect
no effect
slight red.
slight red.
reduction
slight inc.
no effect
Hot 7-mode Cycles
Weighted £ Averaged
NO
1425.2 ppm
1447.5 ppm
As can be seen, no significant effect on Sta-Power was measured
Conclusions
Baseline
Sta-Power
HC_
13 3. -7 ppm
132.8 ppm
CO
.57%
.57%
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 ANALYSIS
IDLE
0-
30
30
HC
CO
co2
NO
25 ACCEL
HC
CO
co2
NO
CRUISE
HC
CO
C°2
NO
-15 DECEL
NO
CO
CO 2
NO
Pre-Baseline
Average
118.7 ppm
1.89%
12.46%
4 . 5 ppm
124.6 ppm
.51%
13.09%
1320.9 ppm
102.3 ppm
.16%
13. 36%
1302.4 ppm
99. 7 ppm
1.59%
12.85%
250.3 ppm
St a- Power
. Avefage
113.4 ppm
1.72%
12.63%
4 . 5 ppm
118.9 ppm
.38%
13.14%
1427.1 ppm
108.4 ppm
.19%
13.85%
944.9 ppm
95 . 7 ppm
1. 53%
12. 86%
221.4 ppm
Post-Baseline
Average
109.1 ppm
1.59%
12.66%
4. 5 ppm
116.1 ppm
.42%
13.15%
1528.5 ppm
97.3 ppm
.12%
13.51%
1196. 5 ppm
87.8 ppm
1.26%
13.061
264. 8 ppm
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Pre-Baseline
Average
15 CRUISE
HC
CO
CO 2
NO
15-30 ACCEL
HC
CO
co2
NO
50-20 DECEL
HC
CO
CO.
132
1
12
11
123
13
1808
419
1
12
.8
ppm
.47%
.95
. 3
.8
.34
%
ppm
ppm
%
.14%
.5
.1
. 78
.-85
ppm
ppm.
%
%- ..
Sta-Po\\'er
Average
120.
1.
12.
6.
120.
•
13.
1918.
408.
1.
12.
2
50
79
1
0
28
ppm
%
%
ppm
ppm
%
28%
8
4
72
95
ppm
ppm
%
%
Post-Baseline
Average
116.
1.
13.
39.
115.
•
13.
1737.
481.
1.
12.
5
21
17
5
5
23
29
8
8
46
80
ppm
%
%
ppm
ppm
%
%
ppm
ppm
o,
0
%
MO 379.0 ppm
CYCLES WEIGHTED $ AVERAGED
HC 137.0 ppm
CO .64%
CO 2
NO 1425.3 ppm
373.7 ppm
132.8 ppm
.57%"
1447.5 ppm
322.9 ppm
130.3 ppm
.50%
1425.0 ppm
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