RECESSION HAS bitten its teeth hard into Ireland. There are almost 438,000 people on the Live Register. One of the consequences of that is an increase in criminal activity and the black market. With consumers seeking any way of making money stretch further, motorists are looking at fuel costs.
According to the Automobile Association, fuel prices have dropped for the first time in eight months, yet the average driver is still spending more than €227 per month on fuel.
Fuel laundering used to be something that was hushed and whispered about in Border counties and rural areas. There was often the suspicion that the agricultural sector would sometimes bend the rules, using dyed agricultural diesel for other purposes.
But in recent years the practice has taken a more sinister turn. In May of this year Customs and gardaí in Co Meath uncovered a sophisticated diesel laundering plant which, it was reported in this newspaper, was believed to be making a profit of close to €100,000 a week. A customs officer who was removing items from this seized plant was then attacked and masked men set his truck alight. According to Revenue, between 2005 and 2010 nine fuel-laundering plants were detected. So far in 2011, five such plants have been detected. They are on the increase.
Revenue cannot fully estimate the cost of this to the State. “It is not possible to accurately estimate activity in the ‘shadow economy’,” a Revenue spokesperson told The Irish Times. “However, the uncovering of any oil laundering plant is very important for the economy – the supply and use of laundered fuel can have a detrimental impact on legitimate trade such as hauliers who are compliant with the laws regulating their business. The competition who purchase the illegal fuel can undercut them and, through unfair competitive pricing, put the legitimate trade out of business.”
This year, these plants have been found in Louth, Monaghan, Meath and Offaly, but are often relocated to avoid detection.
These plants will remove the dye or “launder” marked gas oil. This diesel fuel, which was previously coloured red but now green, is subject to a low rate of excise duty and VAT. It is an offence to use in ordinary motor vehicles and anyone found doing so is liable to prosecution and the vehicle is liable to detention and seizure. These plants will use acid to wash out the chemical markers in the fuel and as a result they could be undetectable by regular Customs checks.
“We have seen the practice grow in the past 12 months,” says Martin Boylan of Independent Laboratory Ltd. “Acid is used to remove the dye and it is put through charcoal and in some cases even kitty litter. The fuel can retain more water and can be filled with slime.”
This fuel is being sold to fuel retailers at reduced prices and offered by independent retailers as low-cost fuel. The appeal to the consumer is obvious. Saving even 10 cent per litre every fill up is valuable to stricken motorists. But at what cost?
The mailbox for the Motors Helpdesk column of this newspaper has seen an increase in correspondance relating to mysterious engine failure in modern cars. Cars that have been serviced properly suddenly seize. Most are diesel. But for those working in the industry there appears to be little debate about the cause of the problem.
“We have had 12 cars in 12 months with problems directly related to contaminated diesel,” says Jonathan Meade, director of Hutton Meade, Nissan and Hyundai dealerships in Dublin. “We have had one petrol car in addition to this but the overwhelming majority are diesel cars. Prior to this, we never really would have seen the problem,” says Meade.
These cars were, in some cases, brand new. “The owner would obviously think that there was a problem with the car, but we would soon discover that the fuel was the problem. Sometimes the fuel was so dirty that it would, luckily, not even have properly gone through the car so the repair was simple, but sometimes the repair could run into thousands – in one case €12,500 for a new engine on a large SUV,” says Meade.
So why does this happen? When the service departments of car dealerships or motor distributors are presented with this sort of problem, they generally refer to Michael Courtney of Diesel Engineering Services Ltd, who has a busy workshop in Shercock, Co Cavan. Open since the 1950s, this is an old-school business dealing with a very modern problem. Gongs and awards for excellence are strewn on the shelves behind Courtney’s head. During our visit the phone never stops ringing. “Yes, we are busy – if we deal with 20 vehicles a week, half of these are down to fuel contamination problems,” says Courtney. We suggest 500 cars a year. “Yea, it would be something like that.”
“It is probably down to the taxation on the fuel that is leading buyers to seek out the cheaper alternative,” he says. “It has always been a problem in the Border counties to some degree but we are seeing more problems with cars as a result of poor quality fuel.” So what problems are being presented? “Generally when fuel is laundered, the process of removing the chemical marker can also remove the lubricants. Since diesel is a self-lubricating fuel, without the lubricant it can cause injector problems. Once this happens you are into big problems.”
The piston of a diesel engine fits very tightly in the cylinder to provide high compression in order to cause ignition of the injected fuel. Fuel is delivered in metered quantities to the cylinders at very high pressures and is broken up in a fine spray with droplets usually smaller than 20 microns. “Modern diesel engines that meet Euro 5 regulations can operate at pressures of 2,400 bar,” explains Courtney. “A 1985 VW Golf diesel might have required just 500 bar. This is why you see people who are able run old cars on chip fat or virtually anything that can combust.”
In a paper entitled, Diesel Engine Failures due to Combustion Disturbances, Caused by Fuel with Insufficient Lubricity, AJ von Wielligh, of the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pretoria, explains why removing the lubrication would be a problem. “The investigations clearly indicate that there is a direct relationship between poor lubricity of diesel fuels and engine failures, relating [to] sticking of needles and subsequent piston seizing.”
Brian Greene is a consultant automotive engineer and claims assessor. “Poor fuel can lead to poor spray patterns which could cause piston damage, watering down the oil in the sump. This could lead to a hole in the piston or even the block in extreme cases. Depending on who you are insured with contaminated fuel is normally covered through insurance if it can be established that the fuel was to blame. A sample may be taken and passed on to the gardaí.”
How would you know that your car had been affected by poor quality fuel? “The car would be hard to start, there would be a lack of power or the car could just grind to a halt while driving along the road. It can manifest in any number of ways,” says Courtney. “Something really needs to be done about this. You might say that I should be happy to be so busy but this is a problem that is in everyone’s interest to put right.”