Diesel
Diesel fuel is a petroleum-based fuel that's used to power many types of vehicles and boats. It has a wide range of uses, including in private vehicles, public transportation vehicles, 18 wheelers and other large delivery trucks. Many-off road vehicles also run on diesel, as do many boats. Its efficiency makes it popular for use in farm and military vehicles. Diesel is used to power machinery as well. A lot of industrial and construction equipment runs on it. Also, it's commonly used to power generators. Diesel is made of a distilled blend of crude oil components called hydrocarbons. The component for making this fuel is refined crude oil, usually by fractionate distillation. Though it's often used for similar purposes to those of petrol, it burns differently, and so needs a different type of engine to work. Additionally, although diesel is heavier and less volatile than petrol, it is often more efficient, especially with heavy loads. Sulphur occurs naturally in crude oil and the sulphur content can range anywhere between 100 and 33,000 parts per million (ppm). If the sulphur is not removed during the refining process it will contaminate the diesel fuel. Depending on the crude oil used, as well as the refinery configuration, sulphur levels in diesel fuel can be as low as 10 ppm or higher than 10,000 ppm.
In South Africa, 2 grades of diesel fuel have been available since Jan 2006:
- Standard grade diesel – 500 ppm sulphur (max)
- Low sulphur grade diesel – 50 ppm sulphur (max)
