A definite record, unlikely to be broken any time soon. The patient is a truck engine in which a malfunctioning fuel system generated huge amounts of soot. The photo does not describe how black this oil is, but it will be suitable for black paint. After disassembling the engine, there is no trace of silver color of the metal. Everything is black. Below – for any illustration – a comparison of two infrared test results. The blue spectra are reference samples and the red ones are from the system. The upper spectrum of engine oil with a large amount of soot (soot increases the spectrum, but you can see peaks of both oil and additives). At the bottom… our patient.

A sample of glycol with an interesting sediment. The sediment itself is primarily iron and phosphorus compounds. The customer added nitrilotrimethylenephosphoric acid to the fluid. The idea was to prevent corrosion. In this case, unfortunately, it reacted with metal oxides – which he does very willingly – and created the solid organometallic complexes visible in the photo. We don’t envy the cusstomer very much. The choice is either manual cleaning or strong inorganic acids such as hydrofluoric acid. In the second case, you still have to keep your fingers crossed to start rinsing before the acid takes over the pipes themselves and so that the acid doesn’t hide in any elbows…

Another sample from the fuel tank. This time “only” water.

The sample in the photo is from the fuel system. The question that arises is whether it is more ad-blue in the fuel or fuel in the ad-blue?

The first wave of post-holiday samples has just arrived. Another we know is on its way.

Delivered sample with “seal”. It seems that the customer’s thoughts are already on vacation. A reminder for the absent-minded that the seal must be glued so that it connects the cork to the bottle.

The customer sent a sample of diesel fuel with information about “excessive foaming.” Tests for the summer package showed no deviation from the standard. These tests do not include diesel foaming tests because there is no such value in the EN 590 standard. It is difficult to determine whether excessive foaming, i.e. more foaming than the standard, is a negative phenomenon. The theory is that the better the diesel fuel foams, the better its mixing with air, which can improve the quality of the fuel-air mixture and the combustion process.

We also did not find a study on this subject in the scientific sources available to us, so we cannot give a definite opinion, although the observation is interesting.

The attached video shows an unofficial test, conducted under conditions outside the standards. At the beginning, a reference sample is shown for broader context – several other samples had similar results. Starting at 1:47 minutes, a customer-supplied sample is shown, with almost twice the foam level. Is this beneficial or not? It is certainly atypical.

We present the results of the analysis of a sample of glycol from the refrigeration system of a passenger vehicle. Testing revealed the presence of metallic impurities, which was confirmed by elemental analysis. In addition, unidentified impurities were observed during organic composition testing (FT-IR).

It is worth noting that the characterization of contaminants requires knowledge of their potential sources. As a result of our analysis, we were able to rule out the presence of obvious substances such as motor oil, diesel fuel and gasoline. Unfortunately, without further guidance from the client, we could not accurately identify the origin of the contaminants.

We note that the current problems suggest the need to replace the radiator.

In this analysis, we did not encounter significant difficulties in interpreting the results. A sample from the top layer of the glycol cooling system showed the presence of fuel contamination. In addition, other impurities were also found, including silicon, iron and copper.

It was another intense day for the couriers. In a short break between sample registration, sips of tea and photo documentation.

Only the video can accurately illustrate the appearance of the supplied sample. The mileage of the engine is 40,000 kilometers, and the oil mileage is 14,000 kilometers. Due to the failure, a significant amount of glycol leaked into the oil, which caused a domino effect leading to engine seizure. Unfortunately, the exact course of events remains unknown, as both we and the mechanic can only observe the effects and it is difficult to determine the precise sequence of events.

Beautifully packaged samples. The master sample, along with the sample from the layout, were additionally protected with foil (caution is never too much) and accompanied by our labels with full descriptions. Thank you. The shorter the sample registration time, the more time we can spend on research, which allows us to prepare the report faster.

Samples of fuel from the tanks of working machinery contain visible sediment. Unfortunately, we were unable to clearly determine its composition. Elemental composition analysis showed a very high phosphorus content, while FT-IR examination revealed a large amount of water and other unidentified impurities, as well as a very low pH. We therefore suggested to the client the possibility of phosphoric acid contamination of the fuel.