The study was carried out over a period of six months in the state of Victoria between 2021 and 20222.
The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) has teamed up with Australian petroleum company Ampol and European manufacturer Scania to observe the effects of using fuel injector cleaners on a fleet of trucks.
NatRaod says that heavy vehicles are the backbone of the road freight transport industry – a time and cost-sensitive business that must deliver under tight deadlines. And that as a result, fleet owners aim for reduced operating costs and emissions by maintaining the fleet in optimal condition.
The association says that proper engine efficiency slows as deposits form on parts of fuel injectors. The Worldwide Fuel Charter1 states that engine performance over time depends largely on the cleanliness of the injectors.
Clogged injectors lead to irregular fuel flow, increased noise, rough running, power loss and an inability to start. Associated impacts include oil dilution, EGR line fouling, increased CO2 emissions, and reductions in the efficiency and durability of emission control systems.
Ampol says it developed Amplify Diesel HD in Australia to keep HD engines running clean. The third-gen formulation has been thoroughly tested under the harshest working conditions.
The road freight trial took place over two periods of three months in 2021 and 2022.
Under the supervision of the truck manufacturer, Scania, NatRoad observed from the workshop of a major national road transport provider.
To compare Amplify Diesel HD to regular diesel fuel, we used two Scania 620 NTG Euro VI trucks operating from the customer’s Victorian depot.
After five to six weeks of collecting regular diesel baseline fuel consumption, each test truck’s fuel tank was treated with a single dose of Ampol Amplify Diesel HD Injector Cleaner to accelerate the injector cleaning process. From week seven, the test truck switched to Amplify Diesel HD for five weeks.
For consistency, trucks were only refuelled at the depot, kept the same drivers and covered similar mileage under similar load conditions. Throughout the trial, a second truck remained on regular diesel to act as a control. The customer supplied ECU fuel consumption data from both vehicles to Ampol for analysis.
After an initial dose of Ampol Amplify Diesel Injector Cleaner and five weeks using Ampol Amplify Diesel HD, the average fuel consumption for the test truck across both trial periods decreased by an average of 4%.
* Fuel consumption was calculated using the ECU data captured and distributed by the vehicle manufacturer.
Note that all the results may vary depending on the engine itself, environmental conditions, and other factors such as variability in engine load factor and driver’s behaviour.