An inline fuel catalyst is a mechanism with two purposes: increase fuel efficiency — “gas mileage” — and decrease emissions. There are two types of catalysts for vehicles, trucks, and equipment: catalysts for diesel and catalysts for spark engines — gas powered engines.

Only inline fuel catalysts both increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

But, people often buy mechanisms and fuel supplements believing they too can improve mileage. The reason being, there is a great deal of confusion about the word catalyst, confusion about what a catalyst is. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, marketers use the word catalyst to promote a variety of products that are not catalysts.

To further add to the confusion, fuel catalysts are often confused with catalytic converters.

In order to understand the value of an inline fuel catalyst — aside from fuel efficiency and exponentially lower emissions — comparisons are necessary. But in short, a catalytic converter is not a catalyst. Fuel treatments and additives are not catalysts.

Again, only inline fuel catalysts improve gas mileage and reduce emissions.

 Inline Fuel Catalyst Versus Fuel Additives

Confusion with respect to the difference between an inline fuel catalyst and fuel additives is a result of marketing. The manufacturers of fuel additives and treatments advertise their product using the word catalyst. “Diesel fuel catalyst,” and, “liquid fuel catalyst” are the descriptions used to promote a large number of fuel additives and products.

It is not clear why marketers promote products as catalysts when they, in fact, are not. Possibly it is because a non-catalyst can catalyze a change. But, that does not make the agent generating a change a catalyst.

Whatever the reason for the confusion, the fact remains: there are neither chemical additives nor liquid fuel treatments that are catalysts.

What a Catalyst Is

A catalyst is an element that causes a chemical change in a chemical compound. But, the characteristic that sets catalysts apart from all other reaction inducing agents is, change.

Catalysts do not change. Catalysts produce, generate, begin, induce, and cause a chemical change, but catalysts do not themselves change when doing so. That is what makes catalysts so unique.

The vast majorities of reaction inducing agents not only create change but change themselves. Catalysts do not. A catalyst creates a chemical change, but the catalyst itself goes unchanged. That is what makes a catalyst so rare.

Most catalysts in nature are rare elements, also known as precious metals. In the same way gold does not oxidize, precious metal catalysts do not break down or degrade when creating a chemical change in chemical compounds.

What is an Additive and/or Fuel Treatment

Fuel additives and treatments are in no way catalysts. Fuel treatments and additives burn up during combustion. Again, a catalyst is not affected when generating change.

Moreover, additives and treatments do not actually generate change, at least not with respect to the chemical composition of fuel. Treatments and additives merely become another component of fuel, but they do not change the molecular structure of the fuel to which they are added in any significant way. The small changes additives and treatments do make do not improve gas mileage or reduce emissions.

The Purpose of Additives and Treatments

There are two purposes of additives and treatments, neither of which is to improve mileage or reduce emissions.

Hydrocarbon Residue Cleaning Additives and Treatments

The design of some is to clean the interior of an engine. When fuel does not combust completely, it leaves hydrocarbon residue on the inside of the engine. Hydrocarbon residue can produce a variety of problems, particularly with respect to the efficiency with which an engine runs. Clogged lines, intakes, manifolds, and exhaust are symptoms of hydrocarbon buildup.

Additives and treatments can soften and degrade hydrocarbon residue so it will blow out the exhaust.

Cetane and Octane Improving Additives and Treatments

The other purpose of additives and treatments is to increase cetane or octane. Fuels ignite based on two circumstances, when they are exposed to an open flame and when put under pressure. When fuel inside a cylinder ignites under the pressure of a piston before the piston reaches its apex, the effect is called pre-firing.

Pre-firing is one of the causes of engine knocking.

As petroleum engines are spark-fired engines, pre-firing is never a good thing. Diesel engines, on the other hand, are compression engines. Diesel engines do not have spark plugs. In a compression engine, diesel combusts when the pressure inside a cylinder reaches a certain level. The greater the pressure under which diesel combusts, the greater the energy output.

What are Fuel Additives Made Of

There are a number of chemical compounds used to make additives that clean the inside of an engine. But, the most common compound used to increase cetane and octane is ethanol. “Ethanol is a powerful octane booster—a fuel additive that prevents the fuel charge from pre-igniting in the cylinder, which leads to engine knocking and poor performance,” according to Popular Mechanics.

Additives and Fuel Treatments: The Gas Mileage Myth

Additives and treatments that increase the cetane/octane rating of a fuel prevent knocking and increase the energy output of an engine. But, additives and treatments do not increase the fuel efficiency of an engine — the mileage — nor do treatments and additives reduce emissions.

In fact, fuel additives and treatments reduce fuel mileage.

Mileage, more than anything else, is a symptom of the energy output of a fuel. The energy output of a fuel on a unit per measure scale is called fuel density.  As most fuel additives are made from compounds with considerably lower fuel density than gasoline and diesel, the effect of mixing additives and treatments in with fuel is a loss in mileage.

“With 33 percent less energy content than gasoline, ethanol actually lowers your gas mileage,” explains Popular Mechanics’ Roy Berendsohn.

In line fuel catalyst Vs Catalytic Converter

Though the names are very much alike, inline fuel catalysts and catalytic converters are much different. An inline fuel catalyst is a pre-ignition mechanism. That means an inline fuel catalyst makes a change in fuel before the fuel combusts. A catalytic converter is a post-combustion mechanism.

Purpose of a Catalytic Converter

Catalytic converters do not increase gas mileage. The sole purpose of a catalytic converter is to reduce emissions. With respect to protecting ourselves by reducing emissions, catalytic converters are invaluable.

Like all catalysts related to fuel combustion, a catalytic converter is composed of precious metals — catalysts. The vast majority of catalytic converters are a combination of platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), and rhodium (Rh). According to CurioCity.com — where science matters, — “[every] catalytic converter contains a few hundred dollars worth of platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), and rhodium (Rh).”

Once fuel combusts, pressure from the engine pushes the exhaust through the manifold and into the catalytic converter. Heat from the exhaust quickly raises the temperature of the catalysts in the converter — the precious metals. Once heated, the catalysts begin to burn the fuel that escapes from the engine without combusting.

It is uncombusted fuel that contributes the greatest sums of greenhouse gases and toxic carcinogens. A complete burn — something that is just a theoretical concept — would eliminate all GHGs and toxins. A catalytic converter is a step toward complete fuel combustion.

Value of a Catalytic Converter

There has been some debate as to the value of catalytic converters in recent years. The debate is — to put it mildly — ridiculous. Catalytic converters are required on every vehicle manufactured today for a reason. Catalytic converters are invaluable with respect to reducing emissions. As Forbes Magazine contributor explains,

“A catalytic converter oxidizes unburned hydrocarbons and reduces oxides of nitrogen in the exhaust stream. It contains precious metals such as platinum and palladium and operates at a high temperature of several hundred degrees. It is a part of the overall emissions control system that all modern cars have, and it is effective technology, proven to reduce exhaust to mostly water vapor and CO2.”

But again, catalytic converters do nothing to increase fuel efficiency.

Inline Fuel Catalysts: What They Are and What They Do

Simply, an inline fuel catalyst is a mechanism that reduces emissions while markedly improving fuel efficiency. In other words, inline fuel catalysts increase gas mileage while decreasing emissions.

How Inline Fuel Catalysts Increase Fuel Mileage

An inline fuel catalyst increases fuel mileage by increasing the combustibility of fuel. All fuels, no matter how clean, burn incompletely. The results are emissions. Emissions with a larger percentage of unburned fuel have dirtier exhaust and produce less energy. A fuel that combusts cleanly produces fewer emissions and produces more energy.

The energy produced per unit of measure — gallon or liter — determines the fuel mileage of a vehicle, truck, or machine.

How Inline Fuel Catalysts Produce a Cleaner Burn

There is one common variable that plays a part in the combustion of all fuels, oxygen. If fuel molecules are not oxygenated, they will not combust. And, there is a common trait with respect to all fuels, fuel molecules are polarized. Polarization causes fuel molecules to cluster together.

The fuel molecules on the inside of a fuel molecule cluster do not become oxygenated. As a result, the fuel molecules inside a cluster do not combust.

An inline fuel catalyst breaks up the clusters of fuel molecules, allows them to become oxygenated, which means the fuel combusts more completely. A complete fuel burn means better fuel mileage.

How an Inline Fuel Catalyst Breaks Up Fuel Clusters

An inline fuel catalyst is a hollow cylinder placed on the fuel line through which fuel flows before reaching the engine where it combusts. Inside the inline fuel catalyst, there are precious metals — catalysts — that produce a chemical change in diesel.

The catalysts in an inline fuel catalyst remove the charge binding fuel molecules together. Without a charge, the fuel molecule clusters break apart resulting in a homogeneous fuel. Once separated, the fuel molecules oxygenate and combust in the engine of a vehicle, truck, or machine.

How Much Does an Inline Fuel Catalyst Increase Fuel Efficiency

Different variables determine by how much an inline fuel catalyst will increase fuel efficiency. The type and quality of the fuel catalyst, the quality of the fuel, and the purpose and condition of the engine are factors that play. But on average, the Rentar Fuel Catalyst can increase by between 3 and 8 percent — a sum sufficient for the Rentar to pay for itself within 12 months, typically less.

On generators, the fuel savings can be up to 12 percent. On boilers and furnaces, up to 30 percent reduction.

Toyota tested the Rentar Fuel Catalyst on 5 Penske heavy-duty truck tractors in various conditions in California.  Fuel consumption improved by an average of 11.3 percent while CO and CO2 emissions were reduced by 33.5 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively, says a study by Olson Engineering Inc.

The Rentar Fuel Catalyst was tested under plans and protocols developed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to determine if toxic metals were still present in fuel after going through the device. After 66 hours and nearly 8,000 gallons of fuel burned, no dioxin or furan was detectable, tests concluded.

The U.S. Navy placed the Rentar Fuel Catalyst on a starboard main engine of the USS Independence. On a voyage from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to California, the Rentar was compared with the port engine not using the device. The engine using the Rentar burned 151 fewer gallons during the voyage. Also tested by the Navy on cargo trucks and other vehicles, the Rentar showed stunning savings in fuel economy – over 40 percent in some cases.

The Rentar Fuel Catalyst is both lab and field tested. In both environments, the Rentar has proven to increase fuel efficiency substantially and decrease emissions substantially. If you have questions with respect to what the Rentar can do for your operations, contact Rentar today!