How does fuel contamination occur?
The
main cause of fuel contamination begins with poor housekeeping and the lack
of consistent quality assurance systems at storage facilities.
Underground
Storage Tanks (UST’s) are consistently subjected to ground water ingress;
this ingress is compounded by thousands of water born soil spores and
suspended solids (silt)
All
storage tanks breathe as their air space (ullage) is dispersed by the
introduction of new product or the expansion of air due to ambient
temperature variations.
These daily variations (expansion-contraction) via the breather also introduce hundreds of air borne spores and condensation into the tank.
Combining
moisture, spores, silts and hydrocarbons is a recipe for disaster.
Leading specialists in fuel contamination and de-contaminates
explain that the delivery port for hydrocarbons into a UST is via a 100mm drop
tube fixed to the tank bottom (minimizing static and foaming) with the tank
being 2.5 meters in diameter and a meter underground the incoming fuel is
falling from five meters of head at 1,000 to 1,200 liters per minute
stirring up any tank bottom debris.
With
dished ends to assist the mixing process of contaminants into the fuel, an
emulsion is created, this emulsion can take many hours to break (ambient
temperature dependent) and drop below the suction stub located 50mm from the
tank bottom.
In
recent times these contaminants have been ably assisted in their emulsion
forming process by the introduction of ethanol and bio- blends of diesel at
differing ratios (Government legislated).
The
air and waterborne spores attracted to, or inadvertently migrating into
hydrocarbon storage systems, derive oxygen from free or emulsified water and
convert minerals and trace elements within the fuel from which they feed and
excrete.
Dense
(sticky-slimy) matt’s of fungal material at the diesel water interface were
the norm until the demise of lead in petrol circa 1985, the lead had
controlled the fungal growth and now for the first time it was appearing in
all petrol, even the expensive high octane and premium fuels.
From
1901 until 1986 you could avoid purchasing emulsified (contaminated) fuel by observing the brass impellor or colored balls floating around the
sight glass on the side of the dispenser, for 85 years your quality
assurance was assured by that sight glass, the removal of that simple
mechanism now costs fuel consumers many thousands of dollars in down time
and un-recoverable costs in damaged fuel pumps and injectors leading to
incomplete combustion, damaged catalytic converters,
increased fuel consumption and most
importantly increased exhaust emissions.
Diesel
engine technology has advanced more in the past five years than all of the
previous twenty, providing many operating efficiencies, decreased
consumption and decreased emissions; however this rapid advance has not been
matched in the servicing and repair networks of the major pump and injector
manufacturers.
This
state of the art technology encompasses direct and common rail injection;
the common denominator for both is the fuel rail that provides a constant
supply of fuel to and from the tank for the injectors to inject and acts as
their cooling medium, on return to the tank at engine temperature the hot
fuel will increase the growth rate of the fungal material.
As
a consequence of increased fuel line pressures (28,000psi) and extremely
tight tolerances for pump and injector operation the requirement for high
quality clean fuels to prevent premature failure has never been more
important, and with the majority of UST’s being black steel and twenty to
thirty years old you are playing Russian Roulette with your fuel system
every time you fill.
Prior
to the 1980’s Service Stations/Truck Stops relied on service to attract
customers and keep them by checking your oil, water, cleaning your
windscreen and pumping the fuel for you, advise on service requirements i.e.
oil, brake changes etc. quality assurance for this type of operator was
paramount as the main reason for a customer’s visit was fuel from which he
derived servicing works.
When
the corporate entity moved in it shut the service section, turning it in to
a mini supermarket, installed computer consuls and directed you to look
after the fuel filling and general servicing of your vehicle yourself.
You
are now dealing with an entity whose main focus and income comes from the
shop and not the fuel, they discount their fuel to attract you, thus
minimizing the margin that was spent on preventative maintenance and
maximizing their shop profit.
Is it any wonder that when you have
a complaint in relation to fuel quality they look at you in amazement or fob
you off insinuating that you are obviously not of your full faculties,
because no one else has complained, not appreciating that when you filled
earlier in the day it was either as a road tanker was re-supplying the UST
or shortly there after and that there were no others filling at that time.
It
should be noted that a vehicle can ingest contaminated fuel over a
substantial period of time before it becomes a catastrophic failure,
consequently the final contaminated fill is the straw that breaks the camel's
back, the final indignation is the spotty faced kids retort that you must of
purchased contaminated fuel elsewhere and your current purchase has stirred
it up.
If
you have hours of telephone and email time to waste, try and get some sense
or refund. During the 2007-2008 reporting period for one of the major fuel
retailers there where 1,750 contaminated fuel complaints Australia wide
resulting in catastrophic failure, with only five acknowledged and settled
in the consumers favour.
It
may come as a surprise to discover that fuel systems are not covered under
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) basic or extended warrantees and with
limited repair expertise, a failure due to contaminated fuel consumption, can
result in repair costs (remove & replace) of $10,000 plus for the average
SUV and many times that for a substantial piece of plant or equipment with
zero recourse or financial assistance from the contaminated fuel supplier.
Fuel
is manufactured to the appropriate Government Legislated Standard and
quality assured from refinery, tank farm to the distribution terminal and
into the road tanker,
The
very instance it hits the bottom of the storage tank the quality assurance
responsibility passes to the site owner or manager, who invariably is
managing multi franchised sites with consul operators who like himself has a
degree in flavored milk, cigarettes, phone cards and confectionary.
Commercial
operators are not that much smarter, operating on tight margins they are
predominantly reactive managers who only deal with contaminated fuel issues
when their
plant and equipment is failing around them. It should be noted that with the
advent of low Sulphur fuels the introduction of ethanol and bio-fuels
combined with the previously discussed elements,
even operating on contaminated fuel every tenth fill of fuel
will decrease injector pump and injector service life by one to two
thirds.
With
the American and Australian Institute of Petroleum’s (AIP) mantra being that
any less than 25mm of containments in a storage tank is acceptable, is it
any wonder that quality assurance standards are being compromised so easily,
the demise of the customers visual quality assurance medium (sight-glass)
has made contaminated fuel a fact of life for 10 to 15% of fuel consumers
everyday of the week.
UST
manufacturers recommend full internal cleaning and inspection of their tanks
every five years to maintain optimum serviceability.
When
was the last time you drove past a Fuel Stop, Truck Stop or Marina and saw a
sign saying "sorry we are closed as we are cleaning our tanks", if your answer is
never you will appreciate the importance of NRG Formula 2010 fuel
conditioner/tank cleaner.
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Fuel contaminated with |
Damaged injectors. |