National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 15940:2016+A1:2018, incorporating corrigendum March 2019. It supersedes BS EN 15940:2016, which is withdrawn.

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags. Tags indicating changes to CEN text carry the number of the CEN amendment. For example, text altered by CEN amendment A1 is indicated by .

Text altered by CEN corrigendum March 2019 is indicated in the text by .

National Annexes NA, NB and NC contain sampling requirements, pump marking requirements and climate-dependent requirements.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PTI/2, Liquid Fuels.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 July 2016.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 15 April 2016 and includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 3 March 2018.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN 15940:2016+A1:2018+AC:2019) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 19 “Gaseous and liquid fuels, lubricants and related products of petroleum, synthetic and biological origin”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by December 2018, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by December 2018.

This document includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 03 March 2018 and Corrigendum 1 issued by CEN on 06 March 2019.

This document includes the corrigendum 1 which modifies Table 1.

This document supersedes EN 15940:2016+A1:2018.

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags .

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by corrigendum is indicated in the text by the tags .

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes CEN/TS 15940:2012.

Significant other technical changes between this document and CEN/TS 15940:2012 are:

the limits for distillation at 250 °C and 350 °C are included in line with EN 590 and the EU Common Customs tariff for diesel fuel;
EN ISO 3924, also known as simulated distillation, has been incorporated in Table 1 as an additional methodology to determine distillation characteristics;
EN 16906 (equivalent to DIN 51733 [22]) has been studied and allowed as an additional methodology to determine cetane number;
in order to allow fitness for purpose product and to align it with EN 590 product that has proven functionality in diesel engines, the arctic climate viscosity limits and the distillation recovery at 180 °C have been introduced in Table 3;
in order to present all relevant requirements within the same fuel specification, the necessary climate dependent properties from EN 590 have been introduced in 5.7; this required reference of some additional test methods in Clause 2;
further clarification on the oxidation stability requirement, as a result of recent changes in EN 15751, has been introduced;
exclusion of special sampling procedures for clean paraffinic fuel as they apply to diesel fuel in general;
to further underline the link with EN 590 that normative reference being stipulated without reference to a particular date of publication;
a test procedure for aromatics content determination being developed as part of a second interlaboratory study funded by the EC on three different HPLC techniques, originally being part of this document, has been adopted in EN 12916 and as such referenced in this document;
introduction of an annex covering a test procedure for aromatics content determination being developed as part of a second interlaboratory study funded by the EC on three different HPLC techniques;
introduction of an annex on density – temperature corrections being developed as part of a CEN/TC 19 investigation led by Mr. H. Th. Feuerhelm of DIN-FAM.

In this document, all relevant characteristics, requirements and test methods are specified. These specifications are relevant for the driveability of the vehicles and are currently known to prevent harm to the vehicles and their powertrains. Climate dependent requirements of this document may vary according to national adoptions of EN 590 and EN 14214, and should be indicated by a specific National Annex.

Several assessments of test methods for paraffinic diesel fuel have been executed and the results thereof [1] led to conclusions regarding the applicability of each of the test methods as required in Clause 5. The conclusion of these assessments, partially funded by the European Commission, led to the possibility to upgrade the original Technical Specification into a full European Standard. Although it is its main actual use, the product is now no longer limited to captive fleet usage, but the scope defines the need to check the use of the product with the vehicle manufacturer. There are no EU legislative needs to limit the product to captive fleets. Such restriction is not for the specification but for the market to decide upon. Therefore, and in the light of the defined need to check the use of the product with the vehicle manufacturer, all restrictions towards captive fleet from the CEN/TS text have been deleted

This document is based on current knowledge at the time of publishing, but will require review based on further experiences with the use of paraffinic diesel fuel or when the specification for either regular automotive diesel fuel, EN 590, or FAME, EN 14214, has been determined (revised) by CEN/TC 19 or based on further experiences with the use of paraffinic diesel fuel according to this document. Further background can be found in CEN/TR 16389 [2].

According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Introduction

This document has been laid down to define a quality specification for diesel fuel on the basis of synthesis gas or of hydrotreated bio-oils or -fats. Its main use is as diesel fuel in dedicated diesel vehicle fleets and engines. Paraffinic diesel fuel does not meet the automotive diesel fuel standard, EN 590 [22]. Its density can be outside the limits for automotive diesel fuel, and the described class A type fuel has a higher cetane number. Paraffinic diesel fuel is not validated for all vehicles, consult vehicle manufacturer before use.

As some production processes result in a fuel containing cyclo-paraffins, as well as n-paraffins and iso-paraffins, they show different cetane number compared to other paraffinic diesel fuels. Hence, in this document, two classes have been defined, one class showing improved ignition quality compared to automotive diesel fuel meeting EN 590.

Blending of paraffinic diesel fuel with fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) is covered in this document. Against the background of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED, 2009/28/EC [3]) and also the latest developments regarding the European automotive diesel fuel standard, there is now a pressing requirement to allow for FAME blend variations of those paraffinic fuels, which are not already classified as being from renewable resources.

Paraffinic diesel fuel is also used as a blending component in automotive diesel fuel. In that case it does not have to meet EN 15940 requirements since composition and properties of diesel fuel blends are defined in the respective automotive diesel fuel standards, e.g. EN 590 and EN 16734 (see EN 590:2013+A1:2017, 5.4 and EN 16734:2016+A1:2017, 5.4).

The document will be usable on a voluntary basis for engine clearance, fuel acceptance and fuelling station allowance, supporting both local regulations and international trade.

1 Scope

This European Standard describes requirements and test methods for paraffinic diesel fuel marketed and delivered as such, and containing a level of up to 7,0 % (V/V) fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). It is applicable to fuel for use in diesel engines and vehicles compatible with paraffinic diesel fuel. It defines two classes of paraffinic diesel fuel: high cetane and normal cetane.

Paraffinic diesel fuel originates from synthesis or hydrotreatment processes.

NOTE 1 For general diesel engine warranty, paraffinic automotive diesel fuel may need a validation step to confirm the compatibility of the fuel with the vehicle, which for some existing engines may still need to be done (see also the Introduction to this document). The vehicle manufacturer needs to be consulted before use.

NOTE 2 For the purposes of this document, the terms “% (m/m)” and “% (V/V)” are used to represent respectively the mass fraction and the volume fraction.

NOTE 3 In this European Standard, A-deviations apply (see Annex D).

2 Normative references

3 Sampling

4 Pump marking

5 Requirements and test methods

5.1 Dyes and markers

5.2 Additives

5.3 Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME)

5.4 Cavitation prevention

5.5 Seizure protection

5.6 Generally applicable requirements and related test methods

5.7 Climate dependent requirements and related test methods

5.8 Precision and dispute

Bibliography

BS EN 15940:2016+A1:2018

Automotive fuels. Paraffinic diesel fuel from synthesis or hydrotreatment. Requirements and test methods

Published:

31 Mar 2019

Withdrawn:

1 Nov 2023