Oil and fuel analysis can reduce your fuel costs by up to 12%.

If you look at the running costs of your machinery or fleet of vehicles there are some usual suspects that are the big costs for your business. One of these is fuel. It is so widely known as a major cost of running any engine that it is the major focus of all machinery manufacturers and even the smallest progression steps in efficiency are marketed heavily to the end users.

Look at the next car advert you see, I bet somewhere in the advert will be a mention of the vehicles efficiency for fuel whether in mpg or L/100km depending on whether you use metric or imperial units.

In fact I bet most of you could tell me one of these two units of your car whether to brag how well it does or complain how it never does as advertised.

Fuel costs are something if you have an engine are unavoidable and are effectively an unavoidable cost. It is estimated around 40% of machinery running costs are fuel related and with increasing costs of fuel at the pump for most of the world (regardless of if the oil price goes up or down) an increasing price tag on what is 40% of your running costs is a big increase. In the UK and across many non oil rich countries there are also heavy taxes and duties that increase constantly on fuel. Even when politicians give the occasional tax cut on fuel to gain some political capital this rarely is seen at the pumps as the fuel stations have been known to put the prices up the day before the tax discounts.

So you may be forgiven for thinking that you don’t have a choice. You are trapped into paying an ever increasing cost that you can’t control. Well, in steps oil and fuel analysis to help you break free of this viscious cycle.

We can’t change the price of your fuel or the maximum efficiency of your engine, but what we can do is help you achieve that maximum efficiency as the likelihood is you are not reaching it. If you feel you are not getting the advertised fuel efficiency of your engine then you could potentially benefit.

“Contaminated fuel can lead to up a 12% increase in fuel consumption in your machinery”

The first point is monitoring your fuel condition. This can be as simple as a yearly tank fuel and fuel filter check or a regular programme of monitoring on site fuel bulk storage tanks depending on your fuel usage. This is because contaminated fuel can increase your fuel consumption by up to 12%. This is rarely caused by poor quality fuel supply, but this can be identified when it does happen. More likely is how the fuel is stored and handled both in the machine and on site where the fuel is bulk stored. Imagine if you could reduce your fuel bills by 12% – this for many companies with huge fleets of vehicles could be the difference between profit and loss.

The next point is identifying engine faults that are leading to increased fuel consumption. This can be faults like leaky injectors or worn cylinder rings causing blowby. Not only is this damaging and wearing your engine, but it can also increase your fuel consumption by ~10% depending on the severity. An oil sample can test for this. Remember every percent or fuel in your oil is not fuel being burnt and an inefficiency in your engine.

“Fuel system and engine faults such as injector leaks and worn rings can increase your fuel consumption by ~10%.”

Moreover one of the primary causes of accidental vehicle fires comes from fuel leaks so you can also improve safety by monitoring it.

So in summary an oil and fuel analysis programme can help you cut up to 12% off what is 40% of your machinery running costs. It also helps identify faults before they lead to failure saving you money and can reduce safety concerns too. If you would like to find out more how to start your condition monitoring programme or get it back on track then click the chat icon below to speak to us and let us help you.