Diesel Fuel Testing Device Wins R&D 100 Award for Southwest Research Institute(TM), Advanced Engine Technology Ltd.

    SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 21 A new device for determining diesel
fuel quality has earned a place on R&D Magazine's list of the year's 100 best
inventions.
    The technology for the R&D 100 Award-winning Ignition Quality Tester
(IQT(TM)) was conceived and initially developed by Southwest Research
Institute (SwRI(TM)) and further developed, commercialized and manufactured
under license by Advanced Engine Technology Ltd. (AET) of Nepean, Ontario,
Canada.
    The IQT increases refinery profitability by minimizing the potential for
producing higher-than-specified cetane number, sometimes known as "cetane
number giveaway," and greatly reduces the cost of testing for fuel blending.
Either factor could result in lower prices at the pump.
    The IQT is faster and simpler, more accurate and less expensive, and also
needs less fuel per test, than the engine test currently used for rating the
ignition quality of diesel fuel.  It is likely to become a part of all fuel
laboratories and most refineries and fuel blending operations around the
world.
    Already accepted as a draft standard test method in the United Kingdom,
the IQT is being examined for approval by the American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM) in the United States and other nations.
    Ignition quality, measured by cetane number, is one of the most important
combustion characteristics of diesel fuel.  Ignition characteristics affect
the fuel's ability to ignite during cold-start and the rate of preparation of
the injected fuel within the cylinder during the ignition delay period.  If
ignition delay is long, the resulting pre-mixed fuel burning leads to higher
combustion temperatures and increased emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx).
For newer diesel engines that use exhaust gas recirculation, evidence
indicates that raising the cetane number may reduce emissions of unburned
hydrocarbons when operating in a low-temperature environment.
    "Receiving the R&D 100 for the IQT is a great honor.  I believe that it
represents a breakthrough in fuel testing," says the IQT's principal
investigator for SwRI, Dr. Thomas W. Ryan III.  An Institute engineer in the
Engine Research Department of SwRI's Engine and Vehicle Research Division,
Ryan says, "Application of the technique in diesel fuel blending will have
significant cost advantages for refiners over the currently used method."
    Gary Webster, president of AET, says, "The R&D 100 Award is a tribute to
the efforts of a number of talented employees at AET and SwRI.  AET staff have
worked very diligently and enthusiastically to further develop the IQT into a
fully automated and highly accurate instrument."
    Webster also says, "We are very happy that this reward recognizes the
high-risk research and development that was carried out by Southwest Research
Institute to initiate this technology program."
    Luc Allard, IQT research and development manager for AET, praises the two
organizations' collaborative development of the IQT and adds, "These efforts
have culminated in an instrument that we believe will be of considerable value
to the petroleum and additive industries, along with regulatory and research
organizations, in the years to come."
    In all, SwRI has won 24 R&D 100 awards since 1971.  The awards are to be
presented in Chicago on October 4, 2001.  Selection for the annual award means
R&D Magazine considers the device one of the 100 best technological
achievements of the past year.
    For further technical information, call Dr. Thomas W. Ryan III at
(210) 522-3192 or Gary Webster at (613) 721-1234.  The AET web site is
http://www.aet.ca .  An electronic image of the IQT machine is available to media at
http://www.swri.org/press/IQT.htm .
    SwRI is an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development
organization based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 2,700 employees and
an annual research volume of more than $315 million.

    Contact:  Joe Fohn of Southwest Research Institute, +1-210-522-4630, or
jfohn@swri.org.

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