Testing Diesel Fuel (fuel analysis)

Soldato
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6 Feb 2004
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Norfolk Broads
I'm looking for a "kit" to test diesel.

I'll try and explain why; I use quite a bit of diesel, around 9,000 to 12,000 litres per month. I don't live in the UK and I can't be guaranteed that the diesel I buy meets any standard whatsoever. With the cost of diesel increasing we have caught suppliers adding water to their deliveries. We've overcome that by using a paste that changes colour if water is present and adding water/fuel (Racor) seperators to the fuel lines for added protection.

People have told me recently that they've been adding everything from vegetable oil to "thinners" to the diesel to make it cheaper, naturally they charge me the full price :(

Is there a kit that I can use to test the diesel? I don't have the option of sending it to a laboratory for testing, I really need a kit that is reasonably straightforward to use.

Any ideas?
 
Associate
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Essex
Density meter is probibly the best way to test, plus they are not a huge amount to purchase against the cost of diesel your buying and give fast results.

Another way, which is free, is to simply take a sample of diesel and let it stand for about 2 days in a glass jar. You will see the oil/water/whatever else is put in seperate from the diesel even if it's blended well. This takes time but is very easy and cheap.
 

Pug

Pug

Soldato
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Over there...
Ukadder said:
Another way, which is free, is to simply take a sample of diesel and let it stand for about 2 days in a glass jar. You will see the oil/water/whatever else is put in seperate from the diesel even if it's blended well. This takes time but is very easy and cheap.


if you go for this route, can i suggest using a tall thin tube to do it, as it will give a better degree of separation than a wide, low jar
 
Soldato
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Shoreham by Sea
When i was in the royal navy, we used to take samples of fuel before filling tanks up when we were abroad but we didnt really do any tests with it onboard : \ had to stick in em in pots and send them off to a lab.

We just had a small clear jar to see how clear it was etc and to see whether there was any random crap floating in it :z

We didnt usually use the fuel until we got a test result back. Luckily we were a TDI ship so we had uber fuel economy! lol :E
 
Soldato
OP
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6 Feb 2004
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Norfolk Broads
I appreciate the responses guys, I really do. My google search just seemed to return results of laboratories that do it for you, which is of no use to me whatsoever! I wasn't even sure what sort of test I should be thinking of.

I've emailed that Company you kindly provided in your link TDF to see if they can answer a few more questions. :)
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
6 Feb 2004
Posts
3,435
Location
Norfolk Broads
Ukadder said:
Another way, which is free, is to simply take a sample of diesel and let it stand for about 2 days in a glass jar. You will see the oil/water/whatever else is put in seperate from the diesel even if it's blended well. This takes time but is very easy and cheap.

I'll do that tomorrow and see what happens with what we already have in our tank. Practically it wouldn't work with future deliveries, I would need to test it before they start pumping from the bowser into our tank. I think the density meter idea you and TDF have suggested looks promising :)

Edit:-And point taken about the narrow tube Pug! ;)
 
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