Spectrometric data analysis of a capillary sensor of fuel photo-stability working with high power light emitting diode at 365 nm

Due to the fact that present-day routines for fuel stability examinations are time consuming, the development of fast and low-cost sensing methods is of high importance. This paper focuses on spectrometric data analysis of a capillary sensor for fast examination of fuel photo-stability using a high-power light emitting diode at 365nm as a degradation and examination factor. Photo-stability is considered a crucial factor, due to the fact that fuel stored in tanks tends to be exposed to light. Sample of commercially available fuel used for measurements was stored, before examinations, in a standard can for 2 years. Therefore, the fuel sample is degraded by storage conditions but not photo-degraded. Results allowing to determine fuel photo-stability during 40 minutes of UV degradation are examined for continuous light emission as well as for an intermitted one utilizing switching off the light source for a 5-minute-long resting period in between subsequent measurements. The measurement data confirm that optical cycle of degradation and examination is important when photo-degradation of fuel is analyzed.