Petroleum

Overview Service

QuantiLAB is a QIMA independent company, offering testing, inspection, certification and advisory services within a broad range of areas to our clients worldwide. Owing to our global overview and local insight, we are able to control, test and issue reports on almost all types of petroleum products in accordance with both local regulations and international standards. Our analytical testing services ranges from light and middle distillates to residual oil, such as motor gasoline, aviation turbine fuel (Jet A1), gasoil (diesel), fuel oil and marine bunker products. Testing is done in our ISO 17025 accredited state-of-art laboratory at Phoenix and the port area by our team of experts, as per international standards, namely, ASTM, ISO, EN ISO, NF EN & IP. Our main laboratory is also equipped to perform blending, GCMS analysis to detect presence of contaminants in bunker fuels and investigation on quality issues. We remain available for any assistance on a 24/7 basis throughout the year.

For instance, our turnaround time for the various fuel grades for full recertification is:
Motor Gasoline: 6-8 hrs
Gasoil: 24 hrs (6 hrs excluding PAH & Oxidation Stability)
Aviation Fuel: 5-6 hrs (including FAME)
Marine Gasoil: 24 hrs (6 hrs excluding Oxidation Stability)
Marine Fuel Oil: 6-8 hrs

Understanding different fuels is very important, using the wrong type of fuel in your car can be catastrophic for the engine. QuantiLAB, as a one-stop shop, offers a range of testing and quality control, to confirm if the specifications are suitable for your car. Motor Gasoline has a fantastically high energy density and is great for vehicles because a vehicle needs to carry its own fuel, so the greater energy you can get per kg, the better!

The most important properties of gasoline fuels are properties such as:

  • Volatility in terms of distillation characteristics to ease start-up
  • Knocking Resistance associated to Octane Quality

Octane rating indicates the anti-knocking properties of an engine.  The higher the octane rating (95 or 98), the higher the resistance of the fuel to burn early inside the combustion chamber.  Lower octane fuel than required can cause the engine to run poorly and can damage the engine and emissions control system over time.

  • Vapour Pressure indicating its capacity to mix readily with air in carburettor.
  • Water Tolerance

Gasoline is one of the preferred automobile fuels because of its light-weight and better burning rate.

One of the many pre-flight tasks pilots perform on aircraft involves fuel, and it’s not just confirming you have enough for your flight and required reserve!  Specifically, pilots need to inspect the fuel to make sure it’s the right type and that it is free from contaminants.  That is where fuel tests at QuantiLAB come into play. The primary function of aviation turbine fuel is to power an aircraft and to ensure below key fuel performance properties are satisfactory as stated in the AFQRJOS (Aviation Fuel Quality Requirements for Jointly Operated Systems) checklist.

  • Cleanliness
  • Composition
  • Incidental materials
  • Volatility
  • Fluidity
  • Combustion Quality
  • Non-Corrosivity
  • Stability
  • Contaminants

Gasoil is the liquid fuel used in diesel engines.  Its fuel ignition takes place without a spark, resulting from the compression of the inlet air mixture and then injection of fuel. They are ordinarily obtained from fractions of crude oil that are less volatile and owing to its composition, diesel fuel releases more energy on combustion as compared to other fuels, hence producing better fuel economy.

Diesel fuel is among the most widely-used sources of energy in the world today. Many businesses and households rely on diesel fuel to operate their vehicles and necessary equipment (e.g. Generators), making daily tasks easier and faster.  QuantiLAB ensures that the quality of diesel fuel is maintained prior distribution in terms of

  • Cleanliness
  • Ignition Quality: Cetane Index/ Number
  • Non-Corrosivity
  • Density

Fuel oil is used in boilers and furnaces for heating homes and buildings, for industrial heating, and for producing electricity in power plants.

QuantiLAB assists you in fuel analysis to ensure that:

  • Your equipment’s fuel systems stay clean
  • Operating at peak performance
  • Fuel injectors are not compromised with contaminants

Analysis further minimises loss of power, poor fuel economy, costly engine damage and downtime.

Marine Bunker Fuel testing is vital prior each loading/ discharge and ship to ship as it ensures the quantity and quality of the fuel oil being bunkered and used at high seas.  All commercial bunker fuel analysis is performed in accordance with the ISO 8217 specifications (2005 / 2010 / 2012 / 2017) which not only offers fuel purchasers guidance regarding the quality of product supplied but also a greater degree of protection.  Analysis also helps ensure compliance with mandatory safety and environmental requirements such as SOLAS, MARPOL Annex VI, the EU Sulphur directive and Emission Control Area (ECA) requirements guidance in relation to the changing face of fuels to allow optimal treatment of products once on-board.

There are multiple problems that can occur with your fuel, both from the traditional heavy fuel oil to the more modern low sulphur fuels.

  • High Pour Point
  • Low Flash Point
  • High Sediment
  • High presence of Carbon Residue
  • Fuel Stability & Compatibility
  • Contaminants

Analysis of fuels at QuantiLAB in conjunction with the latest version of the ISO 8217 standard provides fuel purchasers with an invaluable overview ultimately on the quality of fuels currently available for use.

Need help?

If you require more information regarding any of the services QuantiLAB provides, please do not hesitate to get in-touch.