I often hear building property managers, engineers,
mechanics, and others who manage fuel and have been involved with fuel storage
over many years ask this question. Why do we need to fuel polish and
clean tanks? We never did that 20 years ago!
There are many reasons and I will try to cover a few of the reasons we need to
fuel polish and clean tanks today.
1. Contained Tanks - The fuel tanks today are double walled and protect the
environment from accidental spills of oil, gasoline and diesel fuels. If the
inner tanks fails the outer tank catches
the product before it goes into the environment. 20 years ago single walled
tanks were common and a single walled tank had a spigot or valve at the bottom
of the tank to let the water, sludge, algae in diesel and bacteria collected on
the bottom to run out of the tank. Environmentally that wasn't safe
because if you forgot to close the lever all the fuel in the tank would run into
the ground creating a spill. It was also a weak point in the tank.
Today the only way to access the tank to fuel polish and remove the water,
algae in diesel, bacteria and sludge is to access the tank bottom from the top
of the tank. This requires specialized equipment to clean fuel and that’s where
a fuel polishing company like Fueltration Inc. comes in. We can take the
contamination out of the tank and clean the fuel removing the algae in diesel,
water and bacteria before it gets into your equipment.
2. Sulphur - Today in the interest of reducing pollution our diesel fuels
are low sulphur making them susceptible to bacteria, algae in diesel and
other organisms. Bacteria, algae in diesel and fungus thrive in the low sulphur
environment. There is more contamination with the sulphur removed as the
bacteria create a friendly environment by
darkening the fuel, causing more condensation and therefore more water
to be removed.
3. Ethanol - Ethanol was introduced to lower emissions in gasoline. Billed
as clean fuel one drawback to Ethanol is that it attracts water.
When you have water you have the chemicals ( that the refineries put in
the gasoline) dropping out of the fuel and running around the bottom of the
tank like a big black blob. This can foul filters. There is also a fungus in
fuel today that wasn’t there 20 years ago. Fuel polishing is necessary to
remove all of these new contaminants.
4. Bio Fuels - Biofuels are very attractive to living organisms like bacteria
and algae in diesel. The biofuels are friendly to the environment and are a
food source for bacteria. Add water and you have the makings of a healthy
colony of algae in diesel and bacteria.
Call Today for a FREE Sampling of your tank and fuel. 1 888 713 1090
