Study of Deterioration of the Quality of Gasoil adultération with Kerosene: A Case of Smuggling Activities at the YEMA Border in DRC

Abstract

Several professional laboratories are actively concerned with the issue of the compliant certification of smuggled fuels from the Angolan borders of YEMA, YACHT, KUNGU, LUFU and others with regard to the quality standards and specifications in force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite the rigor of the standards and quality specifications in force, the physicochemical characterization of gasoil-kerosene mixtures resulting from smuggling activities (adulterated gasoil), remains a subject little explored and sometimes subjective with regard to the standards. In fact, the standards define the means and methods to be used to test the quality of a fuel, and the specifications impose the characteristics that this fuel must meet. the specifications require for each physicochemical parameter (density, viscosity, flash point, cetane number, distillation, etc.) a range of values ​​beyond which the product is declared non-compliant. in the laboratory, a diesel fuel is said to be compliant when all the physicochemical parameters analyzed according to the recommended standards are within the range of values ​​required by the specifications in force. however, the results obtained during this study inform us that the reporting conforming to the standards of a Gasoil suspected of smuggling should not be limited simply by observing the specifications. in fact, we have carried out analytical tests in the laboratory (density, sulfur content, viscosity, color, distillation and flash point) on gasoline-kerosene weight mixtures thus simulating a practice of smuggling Gasoil which is the dilution of Kerosene. thus, we believe that a comprehensive analysis of this fuel should include.

• Compliance with standards and specifications of all physicochemical characteristics.
• Interpretation of the ASTM distillation curve
• Critical analysis of the values ​​of each of the physicochemical characteristics of volatility alongside others (Flash Point, Initial Distillation Point, Recovery 50%, Recovery 65%) because they are all linked by a logic.