Science / Medicine : ‘Revolutionary” Gas Additive

Chemists at the Texaco Research Center in Beacon, N.Y., have developed what they call a “revolutionary” new package of engine additives that can clean up both the car’s carburetor or fuel injection system and interior motor parts without increasing the engine’s octane requirement. Texaco has recently begun marketing the additive package as part of its System-3 gasoline. The additive should be particularly useful in small engines and in high-performance engines in European luxury cars, according to chemist Rodney Sung of Texaco.

Most gasolines contain organic chemicals that, when heated, can produce deposits on metal surfaces. Such deposits in the carburetor and intake valves reduce the flow of air and fuel into the engine, thereby degrading acceleration, fuel economy, power and cold-start drivability while increasing emission of nitrogen oxide pollutants. Most manufacturers put detergents into gasoline to clean up these deposits, but the detergents themselves cause deposits in the motor’s interior, thereby raising the engine’s octane requirement.

Texaco’s new additive package is unique, Sung said, in that it cleans up both intake deposits and interior deposits. Studies on engines in test stands and cars show that the additives both prevent buildup of such deposits and remove those caused by use of other brands of gasoline, he said.