Design and Development of Fuel Adulteration Detection and Alert System

Since existing laws are not fully implemented, and more importantly, adequate tools for determining the quality of fuel are too expensive, ownership of a storage tank, car operators, and fuel users face significant risks from substandard fuels. To curb this problem, an Arduino microcontroller in combination with MQ2 sensors was used to design a fuel contaminant detection system. It has been programmed using the Arduino IDE in C++. The operation of the sensor is based on the measurement of gas conductivities through Synthetic Tin Dioxide (SnO₂) thin-film layers, where impurities such as methanol, diesel, and paraffin can be identified. It was attached to some fuel samples and run in impurity/oil mode. The reading was presented, showing the level of the fuel in Parts Per Million (PPM) on an LCD in 2-7 s. For all clean fuels tested, readings remained more than 55 PPM, while for contaminated samples, it was as low as 22 PPM. The system demonstrated high accuracy and efficiency, making it a dependable tool for real-time fuel monitoring. By enhancing fuel quality control and promoting regulatory compliance, this solution fosters market confidence and safeguards consumers from substandard products.