Chemistry Too Complex For Fuel Fraudsters

Abstract

In October 2015, Roland Gurney, 33, and his brother Stephen Gurney, 28, were convicted of laundering fuel in Northern Ireland. They had used a bleaching agent to strip red marker dye from 4,500 L of subsidized diesel designated for agricultural, construction, and heating use. The brothers were found to be selling the laundered fuel on the open market. They were also found in possession of 1,200 L of toxic waste resulting from their fuel-laundering activities. U.K. authorities say many more fuel fraudsters like the Gurneys are slipping through their hands. This is because once the dyes have been removed, laundered fuel cannot easily be identified. Fraudsters around the world typically remove dyes, such as the azo dye Solvent Red 26, by passing the fuel through an absorbent, such as activated carbon, or by washing the fuel with an acid or caustic soda. To help governments curb fuel fraud, a handful