Tanzania has introduced a new technology which experts tout as the effective solution to the problem of fuel adulteration.

The new technology uses a molecular fuel marker that can only be detected by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF).

This follows the coming into force of a Sh9.8 billion ($7 million) contract between a Canadian firm and the Energy and Water Utility Regulatory Authority (Ewura) to help curb fuel adulteration in the market that has developed into a national crisis.

The two-year contract between Eurocontrol Technics Inc and the authority was signed in June and the latter has already put in place all mechanisms to roll out the operations.

According to the Ewura public relations manager, Mr Titus Kaguo, the operation started on Wednesday and the authority has ordered three mobile laboratories which would be used to test fuel at different sites.

The Canadian firm which specialises in the acquisition, development and commercialisation of innovative authentication, verification and energy security technologies will implement the project through its wholly owned subsidiary, Global Fluids International S.A. (GFI).

According to the experts, the marker that is added in the fuel is sophisticated and is injected precisely into the fuel at the molecular level, and the detection system can accurately identify fuel alterations at accuracy and reliability levels of 5 and 99.5 per cent respectively.

The technology is an integral system that marks and detects deficiencies in all types of fuel, with the solution consisting of a marker, injection system, detection and monitoring system as well as a control system.

According to experts, the detection system is capable of being injected into any type of fuel as it does not alter the fuel or its properties and is virtually inimitable and tamperproof.

Mr Kaguo told journalists during the launch of the operation at a fuel depot in Dar es Salaam yesterday that Ewura had ordered three mobile laboratories worth about Sh2 billion to assist in testing fuel after the introduction of the new technology.

He said mobile laboratories would be spot-checking and verifying the quality of fuel and its patrols would be extended countrywide.

The GFI head of marketing in East Africa, Mr Mick Gross, who attended the launch of the operation said the technology was environmental friendly and could not be altered. He noted that it was effective in crude oil marking and testing.

Mr Gross said the technology was helpful as many countries were now constantly facing challenges posed by increased smuggling, adulteration, tampering and dilution in the fuel industry.

"The problems posed by these commercial abuses reduce consumer welfare and government excise revenue, but the combustion of substandard fuels can also have a serious impact on public health," Mr Gross noted.

Since Wednesday, GFI has been busy marking fuel at some Dar es Salaam-based fuel depots in a move that would ensure the country reduces fuel adulteration cases.

He said their integral solution was easy to implement and was virtually a turnkey project adding that the solution was economical since customers only paid for each marked litre sold. He said that customers were not forced to make huge cash outlays required for equipment and infrastructure.

According to the Ewura petroleum technical manager, Mr Gerald Maganga, the mark is difficult to detect by naked eyes until X-Ray Fluorescence is applied.

Mr Maganga said fuel would be marked at a depot when trucks are filled, but the mark would be applied on taxed gasoline.

"This means that fuel destined for other countries which use Dar es Salaam port will not be marked. The system will easily enable us to detect the adulterated gasoline which has been mixed. The identification of the adulterated fuel would be done within a short period of time and does not require a laboratory sampling," Mr Maganga said.

He advised fuel transporters to install tracking systems that would enable them to follow up their vehicles and seal all fuel tanks.

Fuel adulteration has reached an alarming stage in the country, with the Ewura Consumer Consultative Council (Ewura CCC) proposing the enactment of a law with provisions that severely punish traders involved in fuel adulteration.

The council noted in June that fuel adulteration attracted more traders and that the existing law was too lenient to curb the malpractice.

"We are of the view that the penalties imposed on defaulters are not stringent enough to stop them from the practise," said the Ewura CCC chairman, Prof Jamidu Katima, when referring to fines and the cancellation of business licences on defaulters.

The Ewura CCC chairman was reacting to complaints lodged by people who visited their pavilion during the 34th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF).