W
ater, microbial
growths and
rust are the
three
elements that
will prematurely destroy fuel
pumps and injectors. The
diesel engine was initially
designed as a static power
plant with its operating life
expressed in hours. The
average operating life of a
modern diesel engine is
20,000 hours, consequently
every tank of contaminated
fuel that passes through the
engine will decrease the life
expectancy from a few
hundred to potentially
thousands of hours of
premature wear.
We all have friends and
family with engines and fuel
systems that have operated
trouble-free for over
500,000km and those whose
engines have achieved less
than 50,000km due to
catastrophic failure associated
with water, microbial growths
and rust in their fuel. These
contaminants migrate from
storage tanks to your tank due
to site specifi c housekeeping
issues, or more to the point,
the lack of housekeeping.
Service station storage
tanks are re-filled via a
100mm drop tube that is
welded into the tank bottom;
tanks are 2.5 metres in
diameter and 1 metre below
ground with the tankers
discharge outlet at 1 metre
above ground, giving an
overall head of 4.5 metres.
Fuel flowing from this height
hits the tank bottom at 800 to
1000 litres per minute,
agitating and emulsifying the
water, microbial material and
rust into the fresh fuel.
The suction stub that
delivers the fuel to the
dispenser is on average 50
mm off the tank bottom.
Consequently, until the stirred
up contaminants drop below
the suction stub, you are
pumping a nominal amount ofcontaminants into your tank.
It’s rarely enough to shut you
down on the spot, however
enough to start the scenario
we refer to as cancer of your
fuel system.
Cladosporium Resinae
(microbial contamination) is
the result of airborne soil
spores entering fuel tanks
due to the breathing action of
filling and emptying. There
are numerous spores that are
only attracted to
hydrocarbons, siting in the
host fuel (petrol’s & diesel)
dormant until coming into
contact with water, which
provides the spores with
oxygen for germination at the
fuel water interface. The
spores then convert minerals
and trace elements in the
fuels to yeasts from which
they feed and excrete.
Water weighs 1 kilogram
per litre; diesel is 840 grams,
with petrol at 740 grams per
litre and the dreaded
Cladosporium Resinae (Clad)Our resident fuel quality guru, Steve Marriott from Fuel Doctors,
discusses where dirty diesel comes from and how it can destroy your engineGET THE
GOOD GEAR!FUEL DOCTOR
Fuel Doctor Fuel Conditioner
is available from Supercheap
Auto stores nation-wide, as
well as select Castrol stores.
For more info;
W: http://www.fueldoctors.com
Ph: (07) 3217 0077at 1 kilogram per cubic metre,
Clad is the same family as
baker’s yeast and loves heat.
The average temperature in
an underground storage tank
Australia wide is 5°C to 25°C
and the average heat of fuel
returning from a common rail
injection system is 80°C to
100°C , consequently the
smallest amount of Clad
migrating to your tank will
grow like a virulent cancer.
People ask me all the time
how many king hits of Fuel
Doctor will it take to kill the
Clad and clean my fuel
system? There is no simple
answer as I refer to Clad as
cancer of the fuel system and
Fuel Doctor as the
chemotherapy, as with cancer
in humans we all need various
treatment régimes dependant
on which strain of cancer we
have and how much chemo is
required. The only positive in
this scenario is that the
chemo (Fuel Doctor) will kill
and eradicate the cancer.WWW.4WDACTION.COM.AUFUEL QUALITY WITH FUEL DOCTORSASK THE EXPERTS