How Routine Fuel Testing Powers Safety, Savings and Compliance

When it comes to our own health, most of us understand the need to occasionally offer up an arm for a routine blood test. The hope is to catch potential health issues in the early stages and ultimately live a long and healthy life.

In similar fashion, fuel and other fluids are the lifeblood of industrial machinery, helping to power everything from utility bucket trucks to backup generators to airplanes. Ensuring that only high-quality fuel powers vehicles and machinery helps to reduce costs and the potential for catastrophes.

Routine fuel testing can help you assess fuel purity and performance and gain peace of mind.

The Costs of Contamination

Fuel is clean when it leaves the refinery. But as it is moved into pipelines, trucks, rail cars, barges and storage tanks, there are many opportunities for contaminants to make their way into the fuel tank.

A major source of fuel degradation, contaminated fuel can lead to high fuel consumption, soot emissions, unburned fuel, fume odor and high fuel costs. Contaminants clog fuel filters, fuel lines and injector nozzles, causing engine malfunction, higher maintenance costs, reduced machine life and catastrophic failure.

Water is the most common of all contaminants. Condensation during hot weather and ice crystal formation during cold weather are common causes of fuel degradation. Water can damage injector components and reduce the lubricity of the fuel, which can cause seizure of close tolerance components, such as those found in modern high-pressure injection systems.

Micro-organisms that live in water, such as fungus and bacteria, and other biological contaminants deplete the energetic attributes of fuel and generate degradation products, including hydrogen sulfide, which is likely to provoke seizure, block injectors and plug the filter.

In addition, airborne dirt or particles from unclean hoses, damaged seals and caps, or improper handling by workers can also introduce contaminants into the fuel. Sediments and other solids can plug the filter, decrease performance, damage engines and lead to failures.

Testing gasoline before using or selling it is a sound strategy for quality control and a low-cost way to demonstrate compliance with government laws and regulation.

Benefits of Fuel & Fluids Testing

Over time, contaminated or otherwise substandard fuel will impact productivity and lead to costly repairs and replacements that could have been avoided. Routine and diagnostic fuel testing offers these benefits:

• Enhance Safety: Substandard or unstable fuel can be extremely hazardous. Routine testing can identify issues in the early stages and help avoid potential catastrophes.
• Reduce Costs: Contaminated fuel does not burn as efficiently as pure fuel, so it can lead to higher fuel costs, as well as premature wear and tear of equipment. Routine fuel testing will help to maximize equipment life and minimize maintenance costs and downtime.
• Provide Diagnostic Insight: Fuel and other fluid testing is also useful for identifying the root cause of any engine or motor performance issues.
• Ensure Compliance: Fuel testing can help ensure that contract requirements are met and your company is complying with government regulations and standards.

Types of Fuel Testing

Using a variety of methods, qualified lab technicians can assess fuel purity, stability and performance. Some common types of fuel testing include:

• Quality Control Testing: To ensure a fuel’s safety and efficacy, quality control testing analyzes physical and chemical properties to look for purity and proper levels of additives.
• Fuel Stability Testing: To minimize the significant risks involved with unstable fuels, this test examines the dependability of the fuel when exposed to different temperatures and environmental conditions.
• Corrosion Testing: This type of testing looks at a fuel’s likelihood of developing rust or corrosion when exposed to various environments and chemicals.
• Performance Testing: This form of testing assesses a fuel’s ability to continue functioning when subjected to varying pressures, temperatures, and engine types.

Our Fuel Testing Capabilities

At IIA Tribologik, we have decades of experience providing a range of ASTM-compliant fuel analysis and fluid testing services. Testing covers three key areas of concern: contamination, equipment wear-and-tear, and fluid degradation.

At our labs in Quebec and Indiana, we offer a full range of Fuel Analysis Services for a variety of fuel types, including:

• Aviation Gasoline (AVGAS): Our AvGas Quality Testing program follows the ASTM D910 method, which covers the Standard Specification for Aviation Gasoline (100LL), including motor and research octane numbers, distillation, gum, and more. Our AvGas Testing services also include individual tests such as Fuel Contamination Testing to detect water, bacteria, rust, dirt particles and other fuel and fuel tank contaminants that could affect flight safety.
• Diesel Fuel Analysis: Our laboratories provide a full scope of diesel fuel testing services to assess fuel quality and environmental compliance with government regulations (e.g. sulfur content). Complementary diesel fuel tests include: Fuel Contamination and Biodiesel Content (Fatty Acid Methyl Esters or FAME).
• Generator Fuel Analysis: Stored on-site and with a shelf-life up to 2 years, diesel fuel is very vulnerable to contamination during storage. Gasoline, with a shorter conservation period, is at even greater risk. A regular fuel analysis program is a key precaution to reduce these risks. Periodic fuel quality analysis will prevent hard starts, ignition failures, engine malfunctions and breakdowns in facilities where reliability is critical, such as hospitals, airports, water treatment plants, data centers, and more.
• Gasoline Analysis: We provide the full range of automotive gasoline tests to assess quality and compliance with North American regulations and standards. Our technicians meticulously apply all ASTM standards on gasoline, including Research Octane Number (D2699), Motor Octane Number (D2700), Distillation (D86), Anti-Knock Index (D4814), Vapor Pressure (D5191), and more.
• Jet Fuel Analysis: Our Jet Fuel Quality Testing Program complies with the ASTM Standard Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuel (D1655). Our Jet Fuel Testing services also include individual tests such as: Fuel Contamination Testing to detect water, microbiological, rust, dirt, and other fuel contaminants. Our program offerings also include the Fuel System Icing Inhibitor (FSII) Test to assess the purity of the additive to ensure maximum performance; and the Freezing Point Test to determine the temperature below which solid hydrocarbon crystals may form in aviation turbine fuels.
• Marine Fuel Testing: Marine fuel testing is becoming increasingly necessary to confirm compliance with the sulfur limits adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

IIA Tribologik can accurately test down to the micron level (one-millionth of a meter), where problems such as pitting, cavitation and bacteria begin and are best addressed.

Why Choose IIA?

IIA Tribologik’s highly qualified lab technicians and chemists are experienced in the most current fuel testing methods for transportation, mining, and industrial equipment. In addition to fuel analysis, we test oil, coolant, grease, and other fluids for a comprehensive report on the condition of your equipment.

As an independent, third-party lab, IIA Tribologik does not have a vested interest in selling replacement parts or repairs. When you partner with us, you’ll receive unbiased information and unmatched service.

We work closely with our clients to meet their unique needs, offering custom reporting, custom flagging limits, custom test packages and more. Our experienced personnel stay up to date on the industry’s ever-changing technologies, methods and regulations to keep you in compliance.

Fuel testing is a proactive strategy to maximize performance and prevent minor setbacks from becoming major catastrophes. Providing accurate, unbiased fuel and fluids testing is just one way that Industrial Inspection & Analysis IIA helps to make the world safer.