Don’t be vulnerable to downtime due to fuel contamination
Your back up generators are vital to keep your factory or site moving in a power cut. They are a building’s last resort if mains power fails. They have to be 100% reliable. Just a few hours of downtime can have colossal financial implications, which could be disastrous after a turbulent 18 months. No backup strategy can accept the possibility of contaminated fuel derailing the power supply.
What is fuel contamination?
Almost all diesel purchased today is a biodiesel blend. It contains between 7 and 20% FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester). FAME has environmental advantages. It contains less sulphur than petrochemical diesel and reduces both carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate (PM) emissions.
But biodiesel blends have disadvantages too. They are more easily contaminated than the petrochemical diesel we used in the past.
Fuel that could once sit for decades with no intervention, will now begin to degrade after 6-12 months.
Fuel contamination comes in 3 forms:
- Water contamination: Biodiesel is hygroscopic – this means it attracts water. Water found in tanks can come from condensation inside the tank from the tank ‘breathing’, or water ingress.
- Microbial growth: where there is water, there will be microbial growth! It comes in the form of bacteria, mould or biofi This growth forms layers and clings to the sides of the tank.
- Solid contaminants: it comes in a host of varieties including dust, asphaltines, colloid carbon, grit and sand, rust, wax and sludge. The most common sources are ingress through an open tank cover or transfer from pipes and tank sides.
Particulates usually settle to the bottom of a tank. As they build up and fuel levels drop, they can be drawn into the fuel feed to the engine.
Modern engines are incredibly sensitive to fuel contaminants. Engine filters can block, and fuel injectors can super damage, resulting in total engine failure. This can have huge implications if the engine drives a generator providing emergency power for your site, or any other crucial part of your production process.
What can be done to prevent contamination taking hold?
- Fuel Sampling: The first step will always be to sample your tank. IPU’s fuel technicians can sample and analyse the condition of your fuel to determine next steps, providing you with a full report. Samples can be analysed their and then with our DieselCheck portable analyser, and backed up by analysis in an independent, accredited laboratory.
- Fuel Cleaning: Powerful fuel cleaning rigs (built by IPU) are bought on-site by the IPU team, with minimal disruption to your operations, to clean the fuel and bring it back to standard. The fuel will be resampled to prove the cleanliness.
- Preventative measures – Fuel Polishing: an IPU fuel polishing rig can be fixed directly to the fuel tank, continuously stirring and polishing the fuel to prevent contamination build up.
Fuel Polishing without the hefty price tag
The EKO with Kapture Technology Fuel Polishing system brings genuinely affordable polishing to all tanks.
It’s a high-performance fuel polishing system that represents a major step forward in protecting diesel fuel from harmful contaminants in storage tanks up to 10,000 litres capacity.
This system builds on our extensive expertise in fuel management and brings together compact high-performance fuel polishing unit with an intelligent microprocessor control module.
It’s not only more powerful and flexible than like-for-like polishers – it’s considerably cheaper, too.
What is Kapture Technology?
At the heart of the EKO System with Kapture Technology polishing system is a microprocessor-controlled input/output control module, which is installed and connected using simple plug-n-play connections and enables remote configuration and continuous monitoring anytime.
All sensor data can be saved in the control panels non-volatile memory, allowing up to two years (depending on frequency and quantity of sensors being saved) of historical data to be captured by the panel for direct viewing on the LCD display or to download via IPU’s own EARL™ software via a USB connection.
Analytical data and trend information can be saved and downloaded from the system allowing a deeper analysis of site conditions which could affect fuel condition or cause degradation.
What makes the EKO so different?
- You get a fuel polishing system with connectivity that has never been available before.
- You can use the fuel polisher to develop a robust predictive maintenance plan to keep equipment uptime to a maximum and to reduce lifetime maintenance costs.
- You get a plug-and-play system that comes straight out the ‘box’ ready to use – software and all.
- You get a genuinely affordable fuel polisher without having to sacrifice the top tech.
- You can get extremely quick delivery, without the compromise on quality or technology.
Want to learn more, or have a live demo of the EKO?
Head to our website: www.ipu.co.uk/fdpp, email ipu@ipu.co.uk or call 0121 511 0400.
