High-resolution TG for the characterization of diesel fuel additives

High-resolution thermogravimetric analysis (Hi-Res(TM) TG) in its variable heating rate mode was applied to commercially available diesel fuel additives under a nitrogen atmosphere. A TGA 2950 from TA Instruments was used to run the experiments. For the selected diesel fuel additives, the use of variable heating rate resulted in sharper transitions and clearer onset of degradation than in traditional constant heating rate experiments. Moreover, the time required for experiments giving reasonable resolution was remarkably reduced compared to constant heating rate experiments. The technique proved to be very useful in the study of multi-component systems, such as diesel fuel additives, since it provides more detailed information regarding mass changes in the sample as a result of heat treatment when total decomposition involves more than one stage i.e. mass changes stem from consecutive reactions.