Fuel Adulteration In Sri Lanka

[Jor-el]

Do you know that you guys in Sri Lanka are putting Kerosene oil into your Cars?

http://jnsfsl.sljol.info/…/abstr…/10.4038/jnsfsr.v41i4.6247/

Recently, I was asked by an academic colleague in Sri Lanka why the pollution level in Colombo has been rising faster than the rate at which the number of vehicles has been increasing.

My investigations led to a very interesting finding.

According to a recent research paper published by Professor Mahanama, Head of Chemistry at the University of Colombo, fuel adulteration in Sri Lanka is rampant. They analysed petrol samples obtained from ten petrol stations in Colombo and found that there was kerosene in eight of the samples. The average adulteration was 23% - with one petrol station showing 48% of kerosene in their petrol !

I hope that’s not the one that you are filling your car from !

You are not only getting fewer kilometres per litre, over the long term it can also do serious damage to your engine.

It also produces significantly more black carbon pollution into the air.

Fingerprinting diesel and petrol fuels for adulteration in Sri Lanka
D.R. Kulathunga and K.R.R. Mahanama.

J. Natn. Sci. Foundation, Sri Lanka. 41(4), 287-292, 2013.

[Source : Consumer Rights Movement of Sri Lanka]

(Research paper was published in 2013)

So, I was wandering if the government took any action against these fuel stations.

Was there any further investigations?

[hrm]

True. I recently switched to Octane 95 after using 92 for a long time as I felt 92 suddenly lost it's quality (whatever quality it had before).

[Rumesh88]

True. I recently switched to Octane 95 after using 92 for a long time as I felt 92 suddenly lost it's quality (whatever quality it had before).

What makes you think Octane 95 is unadulterated?

[hrm]

What makes you think Octane 95 is unadulterated?

I'm only thinking 95 would at least be marginally better. But you know how this country goes ...

[Twin Turbo]

What guarantee do we have all pumps selling 95 are actually dispense the stuff we pay for?

And the accuracy of the meters? ( in the dispencing pumps)

[AbeysinghE]

As i got to know from a petrol shed guy, They get only 92 octane from Ceypetco and to convert it to 95 octane they put a naphthalene (Not sure he said "Kapuru" ) baton stick like thing into the 92 octane tank which makes 92 octane into 95 Octane... ...I was always thinking petrol shed guys getting two different types of Octane from Ceypecto or IOC itself...

Edited April 26, 2016 by AbeysinghE

[matroska]

You really never know what they pump do they? The 92/95 quandary is always there as you don't quite know if the extra you pay for 95 is justified. You really can't trust anyone. I make it a point to pump only from a shed near where i live run by the Navy cos i ASSUME them to be a bit trustworthy than the rest (there are many people who think so judging by the huge queues at that filling station).

[iRage]

LOL. So someone on FB posted this and it went through the usual FB groups and as always ended uo here.

Did u know this study/article was done in 2013 ? (I am not saying it is invalid now or what the extent of it is. Just find it ironic)

[Jor-el]

LOL. So someone on FB posted this and it went through the usual FB groups and as always ended uo here.

Did u know this study/article was done in 2013 ? (I am not saying it is invalid now or what the extent of it is. Just find it ironic)

FYI I have clearly mentioned this research was done in 2013.

Was wandering if any responsible entity took action against those fuel stations and/or preventive measures were taken to prevent this from happening in future

[gayanath]

Was wandering if any responsible entity took action against those fuel stations and/or preventive measures were taken to prevent this from happening in future

I think CPC has the responsibility to control and assure the quality of petroleum fuels up to end user (retail customer). Whatever the licensed Fuel stations are liable to CPC.

Having unable to maintain their own entity, how CPC regulate fuel stations and control the quality of the product delivered..????

[kusumsiri]

In addition to Gayanath reply, The CPC will say "so far no one complained them about this type of fuel adulteration" and they can not do investigation based on a research article. That is how government organizations social responsibility.

[Crosswind]

If kerosene is mixed with petrol (up to 48% as they claim), would the engine start at all? Even if it does, there should be significant engine knocking because the flash point in kerosene is much higher than petrol and to my knowledge, you will end up seeing a lot of black smoke emanating from vehicles. Is there anyone who knows mechanics (not a scientist or a google researcher) who can actually validate what i'm saying.

Also as usual, their sampling (10 petrol samples and 10 diesel samples) is questionable to say the least, especially when samples are easily available. They should have at least 100 samples spread out spatially and temporally to get a more realistic result....