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Fuels & Lubes International Quarter Two 2016
level that you want,” Arcy said.
On the OEM front, he said that if
history repeats itself, OEMs will
begin to design their own spec-
ifications based on the new API
categories. For example, Volvo,
Cummins and Detroit Diesel have
come out with their own specs in
the past. Often, OEMs’ in-house
specifications will include tougher
limits on one or some of the tests,
or additional tests outside of the
CK-4 and FA-4 matrix. While no
official specifications have been
released yet, Arcy said that many
OEMs plan to introduce their spec-
ifications this summer, for both
the high and low HTHS oils.
While both API and ACEA stan-
dards are used around the world,
Asian countries tend to adopt API
specifications. “Everyone wants
the same thing,” he said, “fuel
economy and reduced green-
house gas emissions.” Adopting
these new performance catego-
ries is one way for some Asian
cities to bring down pollution,
when used in conjunction with ad-
vanced engine technologies and
high-quality fuels. While Asia-Pa-
cific may not adopt the new per-
formance standards exactly when
North America does, “the Asian
market tends to adopt these
standards at a much faster rate.
It may lag behind North America
for a few years, but the change
is happening pretty rapidly,” he
said. For example, Singapore has
announced that it will implement
Euro VI emission standards for
diesel vehicles by Jan. 1, 2018,
which will require the higher per-
formance category oils.
The past year’s plunge in oil
prices has meant that for some
fleets, fuel is no longer the number
one expense. However, everyone
still wants to gain fuel efficiency.
Arcy hesitated to make predictions
on the uptake of the new category
after his presentation at F+L Week
conference organised by F&L Asia
recently in Singapore, but “fleets
are pretty smart,” he said. “Some
of the fleets will probably be the
first adopters.”
The current category, API CJ-4,
was around for 10 years. Arcy
can’t predict how long API CK-4
and FA-4 will be around, but
changes in emissions regulations
or some tests in the category
becoming obsolete would be
some of the reasons for change. A
couple of the tests in the category,
including the Caterpillar 1N test
for piston deposits, as well as the
Cummins ISM and ISB tests for
valvetrain wear, will eventually run
out of parts. The engines used in
the ISM and ISB tests are no lon-
ger being produced. It’s all “crys-
tal ball predictions” at this point,
according to Arcy, but it’s possible
that some of these tests will need
to be replaced around the same
time that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) introduc-
es a new emissions regulation in
less than 10 years.
别，这也是一个挑战。在获得API许可的油品的
瓶子上，API的圈圈显示的是性能类别和SAE粘
度等级。通常情况下，上半部是性能标准。Arcy
说，API正在考虑如何使性能等级更醒目一点，
这样顾客就会注意到两个类别的差异。到目前
为止，还未最后确定这个圈圈会是什么样子，但
采用不同的颜色可能是一种选择，他说。
API聘用了一家公关公司对司机和车队所有
者进行调查以了解公众对性能类别的了解，以
及在选择油品时他们看什么。到目前为止，他们
发现大多数人看两样东西：品牌和SAE粘度等
级。Arcy说，目标是让人们多做一步，在考虑购
买时还需包括性能类别。
“你需要多走这一步来确定你所希望的性
能，”Arcy说。
对整车厂来说，他说如果不出意外，整车厂
将根据新的API类别开始设计他们自己的规
格。例如，沃尔沃、康明斯和底特律柴油在过去
曾发布他们自己的规格。通常，整车厂的内部规
格会在一项或多项测试的限值上要求更严，或
在CK-4和FA-4的基础上增加新的测试。到目前
还没有任何官方规格发布，Arcy说，许多整车
厂计划在夏季推出他们的规格，包括高HTHS油
品和低HTHS油品。
API和ACEA标准在全球均有使用，亚洲国家
更趋于采用API标准。“每个人都同样的期望，”
他说，“那就是燃料经济性和更低的温室气体排
放。”采用这些新的性能类别是一些亚洲城市降
低污染的方法之一，特别是与先进发动机技术
和高质量燃料相结合时。虽然亚太地区在采用
新性能类别时不一定与北美完全相同，“亚洲市
场有可能落后北美几年，但一旦决定采用，则
速度更快，”他说。例如，新加坡宣布将在2018
年1月1日起实施柴油车的欧四排放标准，这将
要求使用更高性能类别的油品。
去年的油价大跌，对一些车队来说，燃料已
不再是最大的成本支出项。但是每个人还是
希望提高燃料经济性。在F+L周大会上发言
后，Arcy并不太愿意对新类别的采纳情况进行
预测，但“车队是很聪明的，”他说。“有些车队有
可能是第一批采纳者。”
现行类别API CJ-4已用了十年了。Arcy并不
能预计API CK-4和FA-4会用多久，但排放法规
的变化或类别中一些测试的淘汰有可能带来
新的变化。类别中采用的一些测试，包括有关
活塞积碳的Caterpillar 1N测试，阀组磨损的
Cummins ISM和 ISB已不再生产。按Arcy的说
法，现在的预测都是猜测，但有可能这些测试
大约会在十年内被替换，而在这段时间内，美
国环保署也将推出一些新的排放法规。
Dan Arcy
