Diesel

We have been carrying out research and development work on our products for many years with the clear aim of providing better-quality solutions that guarantee the utmost respect for the environment.

Diesel is generally obtained from the primary distillation of crude oil, and up to fairly recently its quality depended mainly on the characteristics of the crude oil used and on the distillation method.

However, in recent years conversion plant components have been increasingly used, such as cracking or thermal and/or catalytic hydrocracking, with the result that to a certain extent the importance of the quality of the crude oil has diminished.

On average, diesel had a distillation interval of between 160 °C and 380 °C. Diesel is mainly used for fuelling internal combustion engines and for domestic heating systems. When used for fuelling diesel engines, the diesel is injected into the combustion chamber where, once it has reached a certain temperature and pressure, it explodes when coming into contact with the air. For this reason diesel must have excellent combustion characteristics that limit the delay in injection and the beginning of ignition. The "cetane number" indicates the quality of the ignition. The European norm that standardises regulations concerning diesel fuel throughout Western Europe is EN 590 and is issued by CEN, while in Italy it is UNI EN 590.

The characteristics of diesel that have an impact on the environment are directly defined by the European Union in Directive 2009/30/CE, and they include the presence of sulphur which since 1 January 2009 is no longer permitted in commercial diesel. In compliance with the indications contained in the European Directive, the technical specifications of diesel fuel have been developed so that it can now be mixed with biodiesel up to a ratio of 7% v/v.