Jakarta – A viral complaint on social media has circulated, where car owners claimed their vehicles were damaged due to using Pertamax fuel in Cibinong, West Java. In a video that went viral, several cars appeared to experience the same issue.
In response, Tri Yuswidjajanto Zaenuri, an expert in Energy Conversion from the Faculty of Engineering and Aerospace at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), confirmed that the components in Pertamax fuel were not the cause of the vehicle engine damage as claimed.
According to him, to determine the cause of fuel pump damage, the fuel pump needs to be removed and the tank drained. From the inspection, deposits were found inside the fuel.
Tri explained that these deposits were the main cause of the vehicles losing power as they clogged the fuel filter before the fuel entered the pump. “This causes the fuel supply to the engine to be insufficient,” said Tri in his official statement on Thursday, November 28, 2024.
Tri and his team from LAPI ITB then attempted to analyze the deposits by taking samples to the laboratory for testing using Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS).
The results of the EDS test showed that the deposits did not originate from or form in Pertamax fuel, as claimed. “It turns out that the compounds that formed the deposits were not found in the analyzed fuel (Pertamax),” explained Tri.
Based on the inspection, Tri suspected that anti-corrosion materials typically used as tank liners in metal fuel tanks were the cause of the deposits. “Given that these liners are usually made from alloys that were detected in the EDS analysis, but research is ongoing to confirm the exact origin of the compounds forming the deposits,” he explained.
He also mentioned that if the deposits are related to the corrosion-resistant material used in tank liners, vehicle owners with resin-based fuel tanks can feel safe continuing to use Pertamax, as no such deposits would form.
However, Tri assured that his team was still investigating the root cause of this issue for further mitigation, so similar problems would not occur in the future. “We are working to ensure that this issue does not happen again in the future,” concluded Tri.
