Fuel

Liquid fuel

Hydrocarbon fuels, including petrol, diesel, heating oil and kerosene are analysed for a variety of purposes, including:

• identification or fingerprinting
• checking for contamination of petrol with diesel and vice versa
• investigating the cause of clogging of fuel lines and filters
• checking whether a fuel in a road vehicle is legal duty paid fuel.

Typical sources of samples include Trading Standards officers, HM Customs and Excise inspectors, fuel suppliers and engine supply/service agents.

TT and Manx Festival of Motorcycling race fuels

A minor but notable specialist application of this testing is screening of race fuels for illegal formulations or additives live at the TT and Classic TT/Manx Grand Prix races on behalf of the race scrutineers, in the interests of fairness and a level playing field for all competitors. This involves testing of random samples taken by the scrutineers during practices and before races, plus testing of the final residual fuel taken from the race leaders’ fuel tanks immediately upon finishing.