API says fuel tests back sulfur plan

The American Petroleum Institute says existing technology will allow automakers to meet tougher U.S. tailpipe emissions standards without imposing a national standard for sulfur in gasoline.

It said that results from a Coordinating Research Council (CRC) study, jointly sponsored by the oil and auto industries, confirms conclusions of previous research done for API.

The CRC research concluded cars could, when traveling from state to state, burn gasoline sold in states with stricter sulfur standards then switch to fuels from areas with less stringent standards, and back again, without permanently impairing emissions control equipment.

"While the cars tested showed variations in reversibility when exposed to different sulfur levels and driving conditions, the findings conclusively demonstrate that today's auto technology can adapt to different standards for lower sulfur content in gasoline."

API said that the research "reaffirms the view of the oil industry that, when the Environmental Protection Agency adopts a new sulfur standard, it should set ceilings that vary by region, instead of adopting an unrealistically stringent nationwide limit. This would save consumers billions of dollars a year in higher gasoline costs."

Sulfur proposal

The U.S. refining industry has proposed that EPA reduce sulfur levels to about half of current levels. In states east of the Mississippi River (plus Missouri, Louisiana, and East Texas) levels would fall to an average of 150 ppm for conventional gasoline, down from an average of about 350 ppm.

API also supports lowering average sulfur levels to 30 ppm by 2010 in the U.S. East unless an EPA study determines that a change is unnecessary. For the remaining states, average sulfur levels would be reduced to about 300 ppm. California would retain its own low standard (OGJ, Oct. 5, 1998, p. 35).

National Petrochemical & Refiners Association also supports lower average sulfur levels in 2010 as determined by an EPA study, but it has not endorsed a specific level.

API said the six 1997 model cars used in the CRC tests were designed to produce very low emissions. The cars operated on gasoline with a sulfur content averaging 600 ppm, then on 30 ppm sulfur gasoline. In most cases, the catalytic converters in the cars produced low emissions after resuming operations for about 20 miles at the lower (30 ppm) sulfur levels.