BS VI fuel won't damage existing BS IV engines

Thanks to BHPian pious_devil for sharing this information with other enthusiasts.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) had issued a notification last year that Bharat stage 6 (BS VI) norms would be implemented across the nation by April 1, 2020. There has been a rising concern on the health of the existing Bharat Stage 4 (BS IV) compliant engines when used with the updated BS VI fuel.

Now, according to a recent report, BS VI fuel will not cause any harm to the existing BS IV vehicles. It was speculated that the low sulphur content in the fuel would cause lack of lubrication in the engine leading to extra wear and tear in components like the fuel injectors and fuel pumps amongst others. However, the report on the fuels used in India reveals that BS VI fuel will come with additives that will maintain the same lubricity of the existing BS IV fuels.

Currently, in the BS IV fuels - both petrol and diesel, the Sulphur content is restricted to 50 ppm. With BS VI norms, the same will be down to 10 ppm, while the lubricity of the diesel fuel is to be maintained at 460 microns. The implementation of BS VI fuels will enable the use of emission control technologies like diesel particulate filters (DPF) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems thanks to the low sulphur content. In case of petrol, an additional premium fuel with Research Octane Number (RON) 95 is proposed while the cetane number for diesel would stay the same (51).

Further, due to the rising pollution levels in Delhi and its surrounding areas, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas has decided to introduce BS VI grade fuel in the national capital territory (NCT) of Delhi from April 1, 2018.

Source - TransportPolicy.net