Diesel Fuel Management
is an Important Part of
Generator Service

The need for reliable backup electric power is too important to leave to chance. Emergency power generators that rely on diesel fuel are at constant risk of unexpected failure due to clogged fuel filters when the diesel fuel is allowed to degrade and contamination occurs. Steps need to be taken to assure a reliable, long term source of quality diesel fuel for emergency generator systems.

The standard in the power generator industry is to simply run the backup generator system periodically, maybe once each month, for 30 minutes or until it reaches operating temperature. This is not enough time to allow the diesel fuel to circulate to achieve meaninful filtration. The diesel fuel is, however, subjected to injector pump pressure and extreme heat that warms the fuel returning to the storage tank and encourages condensation to form in the tank bottom providing an attractive environment for microbial contamination to thrive. Fuel filters are changed during normal oil changes, typically twice per year. The amount of run time for the fuel is not enough to allow contaminant build-up on the filter to reveal to the maintenance personnel that there is a diesel fuel contamination problem. Biocide additives are repeatedly added to the same fuel to deal with microbial activity, but this process accelerates fuel deterioration causing solids and debris to settle in the tank. Fuel samples are tested for microbial and fungi activity, but results are negative. Fuel quality, it is mistakenly assumed, is being maintained.

As engines are tested, the diesel fuel is continuously re-circulated and exposed to extreme pressure and heat, which results in the agglomeration of asphaltines, the high carbon content, heavy end fuel molecules. This process leads to the formation of larger and larger clusters and solids, which are very difficult to completely combust. These solids may grow so large that they create larger fuel droplets, too large for efficient combustion to occur.

More than 90% of the debris and the sludge in our tanks is organic material, fuel and oil breakdown residue. In most cases, this debris is acidic and not good for your engine. It causes corrosion in injectors, pumps and storage tanks. Even though microbes may cause and accelerate the process of fuel degradation, it should be clear that the waste products causing the problem are not the microbes but fuel components which have formed solids.

Its not until the power goes out and the fuel circulates for possibly less than one hour that the extent of the problem is evident, revealing itself in the form of a generator shut-down from a lack of diesel fuel, the result of a clogged diesel fuel filter. Repeated filter changes treat the symptom, but then adding fuel stirs up debris in the tank and the problem continues.

Maintenance personnel without knowledge of what is really going on add filters or Racor units, and pour in more biocides. Other "filter cart" systems available on the market claim to polish the fuel, but just filtering does not address the fuel deterioration problem. Without the AFC-705 Fuel Catalyst, the debris attached to the tank walls and tank bottom are not cleaned. And without the ALGAE-X MFC unit, the fuel degradation is not addressed.

The diesel fuel stored for standby generators must be periodically treated with AFC-705 Diesel Fuel Catalyst to stabilize and restore fuel quality, dissolve and disperse sludge and slime, remove carbon build up in injectors and the combustion chamber, and extend engine life.

Fuel that has been in storage will become dark and degrade. The agglomeration of asphaltines in the fuel must be polished and dispersed/put back into solution at least every sixty days with an application-specific Fuel Polishing System or, where many tanks are to be treated, with a Mobil Tank Cleaning System. Large installations would demand an automated Fuel Conditioning and Tank Cleaning System.

Diesel Fuel maintained by ALGAE-X Total Fuel System Management has optimal fuel quality:

• Prevents clogged Filters and Tank Cleaning
• Provides Peak Engine Performance
• Extends life of engines, injectors and fuel
• Eliminates costly toxic chemicals
• Saves Money, increases Safety and Reliability

Generators providing full time power benefit from periodic use of ALGAE-X AFC-705 and the installation of in-line ALGAE-X MFC units with constant fuel polishing and the highest fuel quality. An informal Dynamometer test on a generator unit performed by Barloworld Equipment, a Caterpillar Dealer in South Africa, demonstrated over five sample pulls an average of .23% increase in kW output at full power, a 3.1% reduction in fuel consumption, and a .23% decrease in exhaust gas temperature. See the full report.

Call Pecuniary, Inc., distributor for Algae-X products, for assitance in addressing your particular situation and application.

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