High Density Fuel

[rjs]

In this interview over at Autosport, Nick Worth seems very bitter about not being able to get hold of some magical high-density fuel for Virgin. He insists that this is the reason the VR-01 has a too-small tank and yet refuses to elaborate more.

I was under the impression that the fuel regs were pretty tight and chilling the fuel was about as much as you could do... does anyone know what the scope for higher density fuel might be in general (and who Virgin was hoping to do a deal with, in particular).

(put this in a new topic as I didn't think it was specific to the VR-01 discussion).

[RacingManiac]

This is one area of F1 I find particularly intriguing....all the teams are free to use their own fuel provided they meet the spec. And I think the fuel they use is 99% similar to road car fuel, but that 1% is what people are playing with...

[rjs]

I think the fuel they use is 99% similar to road car fuel, but that 1% is what people are playing with...

I'm fascinated that it's a sufficiently large gap in energy density that they can't make full distance. I don't know what tolerance they would normally design into a fueltank but since they won't make the end even running lean all race, I presume we're talking about a significant performance improvement.

[casper]

the full reg can be found in http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules ... 0/fia.html
reposted below:

19.3 Properties: The only fuel permitted is petrol having the following characteristics:
Property Units Min Max Test Method
(RON+MON)/2 87.0 ASTM D 2699/D 2700
Oxygen wt% 3.7 Elemental Analysis
Nitrogen mg/kg 500 ASTM D 4629
Benzene wt% 1.0 GC-MS
RVP kPa 45 60(1) EN13016-1
Lead g/l 0.005 ASTM D 3237
Oxidation stability minutes 360 ASTM D 525
Sulphur mg/kg 10 EN ISO 20846
Electrical Conductivity pS/m 200 ASTM D 2624
Final Boiling Point °C 210 ISO 3405
Distillation Residue %v/v 2.0 ISO 3405

(1) The maximum RVP may rise to 68kPa if a minimum of 2% bio-methanol and/or bio-ethanol are included in the fuel.
The fuel will be accepted or rejected according to ASTM D 3244 with a confidence limit of 95%.

19.4 Composition of the fuel:
19.4.1 The composition of the petrol must comply with the specifications detailed below:
Component Units Min Max Test Method
Aromatics wt% 40* GCMS
Olefins wt% 17* GCMS
Total di-olefins wt% 1.0 GCMS
Total styrene and alkyl derivatives wt% 1.0 GCMS
*Values corrected for fuel oxygenate content.
In addition, the fuel must contain no substance which is capable of exothermic reaction in the absence of external oxygen.
19.4.2 The total of individual hydrocarbon components present at concentrations of less than 5%m/m of the total fuel must be at least 30% m/m of the hydrocarbon content of the fuel.
19.4.3 The only oxygenates permitted are paraffinic mono-alcohols and paraffinic mono-ethers with a final boiling point below 210°C.
19.4.4 A minimum of 5.75% (m/m) of the fuel must comprise bio-components.
19.4.5 Initially the bio-components are restricted to oxygenates. However, hydrocarbons and oxygenates (lying
outside the 19.4.3 definition) or mixtures thereof, which have been produced from biomass, will be included into Formula One fuel, provided that a suitable analytical procedure is available to verify their biological origin. Their use in F1 fuel will be dependent on evidence indicating that the supplier is genuinely developing these compounds for use in commercial fuels.
19.4.6 Manganese based additives are not permitted


Rule 19.4.5 is a gray area. Oxygenates increase the octane number. This could be the area where engines differ in their fuel consumption.

[Edis]

In this interview over at Autosport, Nick Worth seems very bitter about not being able to get hold of some magical high-density fuel for Virgin. He insists that this is the reason the VR-01 has a too-small tank and yet refuses to elaborate more.

I was under the impression that the fuel regs were pretty tight and chilling the fuel was about as much as you could do... does anyone know what the scope for higher density fuel might be in general (and who Virgin was hoping to do a deal with, in particular).

(put this in a new topic as I didn't think it was specific to the VR-01 discussion).

You can do a lot with the fuel, but you are not allowed to chill it.

Ordinary pump petrol contain over 500 different hydrocarbons with different properties. These can be classified into different categories such as paraffins, olefins, di-olefins, naphthenes, aromatics and oxygenates. What the F1 regulations say is that 99% of the hydrocarbons found in F1 fuel must be hydrocarbons that are found in typical pump petrol. 1% is free of choice.

Aside from that, there are composition limitations. Aromatic compounds must be 40% or less, olefins 17% or less, di-olefins 1% or less, styrene and alkyl derivatives 1% or less.

Then there are a few other requirements, antiknock index min. 87, oxygen content max. 3.7 wt%, nitrogen max. 500 mg/kg, benzene max. 1 wt%, RVP 45-60 kPa, lead max. 0,005 g/l, oxidation stability min. 360 minuties in ASTM D 525, sulphur max. 10 mg/kg, electrical conductivity min. pS/m, final boiling point max. 210 degC and destillation residue max. 2 %v/v.

In principle, these regulations mean that for 99% of the fuel you can pick any of the +500 hydrocarbons availible in gasoline that have 3-12 carbons per chain. The fuel must meet the requirement, and the composition limitation, but otherwise you can pick the hydrocarbons you want and choose their proportion. If you pick higher density hydrocarbons you will get a higher density fuel. If you pick faster burning hydrocarbons, you can get a faster burning fuel and so on. Then you top this off by adding a maximum of 1% of free compounds.

It can also be interresting to know that the octane rating of F1 fuels isn't that high as knock isn't a problem, the fuels are instead mostly optimized to burn fast and clean.