About FTC
Tin-antimony alloy removes hidden carbon deposits and keeps engines permanently clean and efficient - that's why the manufacturers don't use it
In 1942, the American motor industry discovered the tin-antimony alloy pellets, used in Hurricane and Yak fighter planes* operating over the Russian front, removed hidden carbon deposits and kept engines permanently clean. They were worried. No carbon deposits meant greatly reduced engine wear. Putting a big dent in their profits from spares, repairs and annual engine de-cokes. And even slowing new car sales. But for the fuel additive companies, with dispenser cans at every fuel pump, the pellets spelt complete disaster. So they started a smear campaign. And motoring's biggest lie was born.
Along with snake oil slurs and stories of exploding engines, the plausible sounding 'if they were that good the manufacturers would fit them' was circulated through main dealers and garage networks. It wasn't long before ordinary motorists were repeating the propaganda circulated to fool them! Over the last 80-years, motoring's biggest lie, has been repeatedly used so many times, especially in the UK, many have come to believe it. With misleading press, straw man tests and red herring reviews, all helping sway public opinion into rejecting a simple alloy that keeps engines permanently clean.
The long-established commercial use of tin-antimony catalysts
Tin-antimony catalysts were first used commercially in South Africa during the 1960s, to keep emissions permanently low in Anglo-American's underground mining vehicles. Due to their success they were then used in SAF Marine's container ships to cut black smoke, prevent fuel wastage and extend service intervals. As independent tests repeatedly confirmed their ability to permanently eliminate carbon deposits, their use and popularity steadily increased. Following the results of the Philadelphia Coca Cola Company's fleet trials in 1998, the US military conducted 14-months testing at Camp Pendleton and the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center.
In 2003 the Senate Committee on Armed Services announced the results to Congress with the recommendation that Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, should take immediate steps for the application of fuel catalyst technology.** Since then the use of tin-antimony fuel catalysts has exploded worldwide. And today they're used by private and commercial vehicle owners in every imaginable make, model, type and age of petrol and diesel vehicle.
Permanently clean engines are miles better for everyone
For the last 60-years, the ability of tin-antimony alloy to permanently eliminate carbon deposits from petrol and diesel engines has been repeatedly demonstrated using industry-standard before & after emissions results. The same way liquid fuel additives are tested. In addition to before & after emissions results and MOT test certification, FTC has also been independently verified by world leaders Emissions Analytics, using the latest portable emissions measurement system (PEMS).
The significant improvements reported by FTC customers, are only ever the result of carbon deposit removal. Fuel catalysts cannot produce before & after results in a new or clean engine (where there is no carbon to remove). In a brand-new vehicle, or one with a clean engine, tin-antimony alloy simply stops deposits from forming. Which simply means performance, economy and emissions all remain virtually the same as a brand new-engine.
Avoidable carbon deposits affect all petrol and diesel engines
The main reason we don't notice carbon deposits building up in our engines, is because the engine management system (EMS) in modern vehicles constantly adjusts and retards the engine ignition timing to prevent overheating, pinking and engine knock. Often the first we know of hidden deposits is when dashboard warning lights start flashing, our engine goes into limp mode or another major deposit-related problem occurs. Removing hidden deposits reduces the engines operating temperature and allows the EMS to reset/re-advance the engines original timing settings.
The Handbook of Air Pollution from Internal Combustion Engines and the Society of Automotive Engineers confirm, carbon deposits affect all petrol and diesel engines, causing driveability issues, reduced power, poor fuel economy and excess exhaust emissions. With the motor industry's own Worldwide Fuel Charter admitting, even the use of high-quality fuel leads to deposit formation, affecting vehicle performance and increasing engine-out emissions. Which is why carbon deposits are the root cause of the excess traffic pollution that ruins the air quality for hundreds of millions of people in towns and cities worldwide.
But when tin-antimony alloy is added to the fuel tank of petrol or diesel vehicles, it causes the fuel to act as a self-cleaner as it combusts. And because tin-antimony alloy doesn't dissolve, breakdown or wear away in fuel, it never needs to be replaced or topped up. And goes on working for as long as it's in the fuel tank. Keeping the engine permanently clean and efficient. Which simply means performance, economy and emissions remain virtually the same as a brand-new engine.
The origin of tin-antimony catalysts
Tin-antimony catalysts were originally developed by Russian scientists in 1941, for use in the fuel tanks of Hurricane and Yak fighter planes operating out of Murmansk during WW2. Low temperature waxing in the local aviation fuel was causing crystalline deposits to clog carburettors leading to engines cutting out and mid-air stalling. The planes were restricted to 16,000 ft until a solution could be found. When tin-antimony pellets were added to the fuel tanks, the planes were able to operate over and above their usual ceiling of 20,000 ft with exactly the same fuel.
*The WW2 campaign, code named 'Operation Benedict' is recorded in Hurricanes Over Murmansk by John Golley ISBN 1840372982 and in Force Benedict by Hurricane fighter Eric Carter ISBN 1444785141 - who details the wartime use of the pellets and their subsequent post-war development. Pages 129-131, 256-257
**107th Congress 2nd Session House of Representatives Report 107-436 Pages 292-293