Abstract

Experimental analysis of properties of a diesel fuel plays an important role in delineating the performance and the reliability of the fuel. The objectives of this study are to assess the qualities of diesel fuel experimentally and to ensured that only diesel fuels that adhered to the standard specification requirements prescribed by the American Society for Testing Materials ASTM and that are in line with the standard specification requirements of the Department of Petroleum Resources DPR and the Standard Organization of Nigeria SON are allowed to reach the end users for utilization. In this study, ten samples of diesel fuel were randomly collected from different dispensing point. These samples were analyzed in the laboratory to determine their performances and properties. The properties of the diesel fuel samples that were determined in this study are the appearance, colour, flash point temperatures, specific gravity, API gravity and the boiling points ranges of the samples. Among the aforementioned properties, the boiling point ranges is the most critical parameter that attest the reliability and the performance of the diesel fuel because it entails its state of purity. The results of this study for atmospheric distillation profile show that samples 1 to 7 met the minimum total recovery that is 97 v v and is the standard specification requirement prescribed by the Department of Petroleum Resources DPR and the Standard Organization of Nigeria SON . This shows that samples 1 to 7 are unadulterated diesel fuel. However, samples 8 to 10 did not met the minimum total recovery of the 97 v v , their total recovery fall below the minimum standard criteria. This also indicates that samples 8 to 10 were adulterated by low quality products. These adulterated diesel fuel may not meet the engine requirement of a diesel powered vehicles. So, when these fake products are used as energy source in diesel engine, it will reduce the performance of the engine. Therefore, adulterated products should not be allowed to reach the end user for utilization. Mohammed Nasiru Bello "Analysis for Detection of Performance Characteristics of Diesel Fuel" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-3 | Issue-1 , December 2018, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd19054.pdf http://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/chemical-engineering/19054/analysis-for-detection-of-performance-characteristics-of-diesel-fuel/mohammed-nasiru-bello

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