Fuel
Contamination

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At SOLENT POWER, we serve customers with a range of generator fuel & contamination services nationwide. We offer comprehensive fuel management for our customers, including nationwide fuel supply, sampling, analysis and treatment services.

We understand the importance of having a well-maintained fuel supply for your diesel generating plant, and we are a service partner that you can depend on to ensure this reliability.

By managing the quality of your diesel generator fuel, you can reduce the likelihood of contamination that could damage your engine.

Generator Fuel Services

What are the implications of poor or contaminated fuel?

Contaminated fuel can cause serious issues with your engine such as failure to start, failure to take adequate building load due to blocked filters or in some serious cases can cause piston seizures, fuel injector or pump failure due to particle build up in the fuel supply lines.

In some instances, this can result in large unexpected costly generator repairs for the asset owner.

Water in fuel contamination can cause issues with combustion and prevent your generator from starting or taking the load. Your diesel also acts as a coolant and lubricant for your engine parts during operation and the water content reduces the lubrication and cooling effect.

This reduced lubrication and cooling effect can cause additional generator component wear, overheating and damage to fuel pumps which are the most expensive component to replace on a diesel engine.

Poor generator fuel — Poor Generator Fuel

Generator Fuel Services

HOW OFTEN DO YOU CHECK YOUR GENERATOR FUEL?

Generator Fuel management can be easily overlooked. In the past, we were able to fill up storage tanks and leave it for years. The quality of the diesel fuel was so high that contamination wasn’t really a consideration where the tank was sealed and free from damage.

This is no longer the case …

Fuel composition has changed drastically over the last few years with the introduction of biodiesel to the market to meet environmental regulations. Modern diesel fuel is now much more susceptible to contamination from moisture and bacteria (diesel bug) due to its FAME composition (more information on FAME biodiesel below).

As such, it is recommended that diesel fuel should not be stored longer than 12 months in a tank.

Contaminated Diesel Generator Fuel - Fuel Services from Solent Power — Contaminated Fuel

What is FAME biodiesel?

FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) is produced by esterifying a fat with methanol to produce a biodiesel.

This bonding is weak and susceptible to water contamination and bacterial contamination (diesel bug).

With your diesel having a requirement of 7% FAME content to meet international regulations, this weakness and vulnerability to contamination is unavoidable and present in every generator fuel storage tank.

Can your generator fuel contamination be avoided?

There is no guaranteed way of preventing generator fuel contamination but there are ways you can reduce the likelihood and the severity such as:

Ensure your tank is in good condition and free from rust or corrosion.
Keep your tank sealed to prevent ingress of external contaminants.
Fill your diesel generator tank up to the top. Air voids inside the tank will create moisture as temperature changes, and this moisture will find its way into the fuel.
Install a fixed fuel polishing system on your storage tank that runs at intervals daily to circulate your fuel and filter any contaminants – contact us about this for more information.
Replace your diesel with an alternative fuel such as HVO fuel – HVO fuel can be stored for up to 10 years and is far less susceptible to contamination. The added benefits of this will be reduced generator exhaust emissions by up to 90%

Generator Fuel Services

WHAT IS GENERATOR FUEL SAMPLING & ANALYSIS?

Fuel management can be taken with two very simple steps:

1. Run your generator at least once per month to burn off your fuel and monitor your engine performance.

2. Have a service contract that includes fuel sampling and analysis regularly to detect any contamination before it threatens the health of your diesel generator.

At Solent Power our generator engineers can sample your stored diesel fuel during generator service visits and analyse its condition to determine if it is viable for use. Our testing is undertaken by an external and completely independent provider and reporting is provided within days and sometimes within 24hrs!

If the fuel is not in suitable condition, we can provide treatment solutions such as fuel polishing and tank services to remove contaminants from the fuel and the tank walls and bring your fuel back to a safe working condition.

To find out more or discuss our fuel services please contact us today on +44(0)2381 550144 or email your enquiry to info@solentpower.co.uk. We can discuss your fuel requirements and help to provide any advice you need for your generator maintenance.

Generator Fuel Testing Service from Solent Power UK — Fuel Sample Bottles

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If you'd like to learn more about Generator Fuel Services, please get in touch.

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Solent Power Ltd (Company Number 12622565) is a company registered in England and Wales. Our registered office is located at Unit 7 Mayflower Close, Chandler’s Ford Industrial Estate, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO53 4AR. VAT No. 363504018

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FuelContamination

What are the implications of poor or contaminated fuel?

HOW OFTEN DO YOU CHECK YOUR GENERATOR FUEL?

What is FAME biodiesel?

Can your generator fuel contamination be avoided?

WHAT IS GENERATOR FUEL SAMPLING & ANALYSIS?

Fuel
Contamination