Kokua Line
By June Watanabe
Wednesday, January 13, 1999
Kokua Line
On his weekly automotive radio show on KHVH, George Nitta has frequently said that gasoline octane ratings posted on gas pumps in Hawaii are higher than the actual octane of the gasoline. Isn't it the business of some regulatory agency to ensure that consumers are getting the quality of gasoline we're paying for? Chemist checks
isle gas, finds one
error in 6 yearsWhen asked about your question, Nitta asserted that "Hawaii is the only state that doesn't check the quality of gas."
He maintains the state Agriculture Department merely checks the amount of gas being sold.
"But big deal, if (dealers are) selling garbage. There has never ever been an agency that checks quality," Nitta said.
To that, Hiromitsu Kanai said, "Mr. Nitta is dead wrong."
Kanai is a petroleum chemist with the Agriculture Department's Quality Assurance Division's Measurement Standards Branch who analyzes the quality and characteristics of gasoline sold in Hawaii, something he says he does both routinely and in answer to complaints.
Kanai pointed to a report issued last fall by the Quality Assurance Division, covering gas samples he analyzed between 1993 and 1998. In all that time, Kanai said, he only once found the posted octane at a local gas station to be wrong: That was at a Cosmo station in 1997 in which he found the posted 92 octane to be 90.6. The acceptable margin of error is .6, meaning 92 octane gasoline can range from 91.4 to 92.6, he said.
Subsequent testing a few weeks later showed an acceptable reading, he said.
Nitta bases his assessment on the findings of his "rough test, a gravity test" of the octane of various gasoline brands and maintains "that it's low.
"We have customers that run, from time to time, on their same brand of gas, and it sometimes knocks like heck and then sometimes it don't," he said. "It's not the car, it's the gas. The quality goes up and down like crazy."
But Kanai said you cannot determine octane by using a gravity test. The best way to do so is through use of an "octane engine," which he relies on.
In 1994, to verify the accuracy of his results, Kanai said, gasoline samples were split, half tested by him and half by "an established mainland laboratory. We came out OK."
There is no such thing as pure gasoline, Kanai said, since different refining processes will result in different gasoline. Depending on the process, the gasoline you buy may contain from 300 to 400 compounds, Kanai said.
His job is "to make sure the gas meets specifications," he said. "All have met the specifications," including for octane, volatility, etc.
However, that doesn't mean your engine may not knock from using a certain brand of gasoline, he said. Each engine has its own idiosyncrasies, he said, and for whatever reason, may not take to a certain brand. Kanai said you as a consumer may have to shop around to find what's best for your vehicle.
Kanai said this falls out of the scope of a regulatory agency's responsibility. As far as the state is concerned, the gasoline tested met all its requirements.
To Shirley Streck, president of the local Chapter of Rebekahs, for the tremendous support she has given to the HJPA over many years. She and her husband, Al, make a tremendous team in the spirit of community service and service above self. -- Don Devaney, president HJPA Mahalo
to the person who removed a small round tree trunk table with heavy carving and carved, curved legs from my steps. May you live with guilt the rest of your life. -- Mrs. K. Auwe
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
