DIESEL FUEL MAINTENANCE AND PURIFICATION SYSTEMS

First, the refinery’s manufacturing specs changed due to environmental concerns related to diesel fuel. In other words, the amount of Sulfur in the fuel was gradually reduced by the precise parameters of EN590. The new diesel with ultra-low sulfur has lost one of an essential lubricant while it is now more environment-friendly.

Biodiesel Blending, a long-standing agenda in the European Union and the United States; As of 1 January 2018, it will become mandatory in our country. All distributors are required to biodiesel blend by at least 0.5% by this date. This rate can be maximum 5%, and 2% is supported with tax exemption. While calorific value produced from vegetable or waste oils is a significant benefit for the country’s economy as a high contribution, biodiesel requires special care regarding the stability of the fuel in medium and long-term storage.

Engines and injection systems changed. Market demands and state regulations pushed manufacturers for more economical consumption, better combustion, and higher power. We, therefore, have now TIER IV and TIER V engines with much more precise injection systems than we had ten years ago, with fuel lines operating at higher pressures and temperatures. It is clear that the traditional preventive maintenance practices will be inadequate in the infrastructure with these engines.

The needs of today’s business world have changed. Now, continuity is more important than it was before. And now a downtime is much more expensive than it has ever been before. For this reason, designers and facility managers are extra-careful for sizing of emergency power supply systems, redundancy planning, regular tests and maintenance practices.

Diesel fuel is a mixture of hydrocarbons obtained by distillation of crude oil. The important properties which are used to characterize diesel fuel include cetane number (or cetane index), fuel volatility, density, viscosity, cold behavior, and sulfur content. Diesel Fuel has been updated with environmental concerns and governmental regulations over time and has now created a situation that must be considered in storage, particularly in medium to long term, because it has a shelf life and breaks down by aging.

The diesel composition, which is a fuel of fossil origin, contains many aerobic and anaerobic bacteria spores and fungus. Especially where water is present, these bacteria and fungi are in a logarithmic growth environment. If not continuously maintained, they can cause all the fuel volume in a storage tank to become infected. As a result, microorganism infection, which turns into an organic contamination, poses a risk for the installations, extending from the tank to the combustion chamber through injectors which brings a significant chance of engine failures.

Diesel fuel attracts many physical pollution factors during the entire trip from the refinery to the end user’s storage tank. Unwanted agents such as solid particles, dust, sand, ferrous, etc. accumulate in the tank as a result. In addition to the catastrophe that blocks or ruins the filters and injectors, they also cause the formation of suitable habitats for organic pollution and bacterial growth. Apart from solid dirt, water; both in free and emulsified form, is the most undesired factor of fuel. Water is the last thing we want to see somewhere close to a combustion chamber with high pressure and temperature.

The most important feature that makes fuel usable is the calorific composition and combustibility. If the fuel -treated only by filters physically- is not in proper chemistry cannot create a combustion. Meaning, visibly clean fuel not a guarantee for an appropriate operation of emergency power generators. The end user must acknowledge that diesel is a complete set with its correct chemistry, cetane, viscosity, volality, and aromatics. Therefore, Fuel Maintenance should cover all.