If you store diesel in tanks for a long time, you should be aware of the imminent danger that diesel fungus poses to your fuel’s quality. Your fuel is instantly exposed to diesel bug as soon as it leaves the refinery’s sterile environment.
What is a Diesel Fungus?
According to Conidia Bioscience, the term diesel fungus refers to the microbial growth that contaminates stored diesel fuel. Today, diesel fungus has become an enormous problem for people who store the fuel for a long time. Some of the reasons why diesel contamination has become common include the use of biodiesel and the reduction of sulphur in fuel.
While the use of biodiesel is good for the environment, it does not favour a user or retailer who wants to store it for a long time. On the other hand, sulphur reduces the amount of fungi present in diesel as it is a natural bacteria and fungus killer. Therefore, reducing the amounts present in diesel fuel encourages the growth of diesel bug.
How Does a Diesel Fungus Contaminate Your Fuel?
Diesel fungus thrives in stored fuel since such microorganisms require tiny amounts of water to thrive and multiply. As it feeds and multiplies in your diesel tank, the fungus produces a black or brownish sludge that can significantly damage the quality of stored fuel.
Poor quality diesel fuel leads to several problems including:
- Poor performing engine – this is caused by insufficient fuel flow to the engine
- A sharp increase in fuel consumption
- Blocked fuel filters
- Black smoke emission from your exhaust
- Fuel leaks – as a result of a corroded tank
How to Deal With Diesel Fungus
Diesel Bug Prevention
The best way to deal with a diesel fungus is proper storage and maintenance of stored diesel fuel. These maintenance practices include regular removal of water to deprive the fungus of the essential element crucial for their survival.
The truth is, it takes a lot of effort to keep away diesel fungus completely. However, a small-scale infestation has less or no effect on the quality of your fuel. Regularly draining water can keep the diesel bug at a moderate level, maintaining the quality of your fuel. However, maintenance and proper fuel husbandry cannot do much if the diesel fungus is already established in the tank.
The only solution in such a scenario is the use of diesel fungus control or treatment options to eliminate the bug.
Diesel Fungus Treatment
Even with the diesel treatment efforts by the oil suppliers, the diesel can still get contaminated during transportation and storage. Therefore, it is important to use a bacteria/fungus killer designed to treat the diesel bug problem. Normally, this fungus killer/biocide is used for two main purposes:
Treatment – If your tank is already harbouring a diesel fungus, a dose of biocide can help eliminate the problem. Biocides can kill the diesel fungus within a short time by making the environment around it inhabitable. When treating your contaminated fuel, you should follow this procedure.
- Drain, clean and treat the tanks – If you want to eliminate diesel fungus, you should start by transferring your fuel to another container. Treating and cleaning the tank is essential as there is no need for adding your treated fuel to an already contaminated diesel tank. While cleaning the tank, prioritise areas such as filters and fuel lines. If the tank is damaged by corrosion, you may want to replace it with a new one.
- Treat your fuel – Before adding new or putting the fuel back to the tank, you should put it through a fuel polishing system to kill the diesel fungus. The level of contamination would determine the dosage of biocide you would use to treat the fuel.
Prevention – Biocides can also work as a preventive measure to significantly reduce future contamination risks. However, the dosages used for preventive purposes are lower compared to the ones for treatment.
Conclusion
Diesel fungus treatment should not be a difficult task provided to follow the correct procedures. The biocide used for diesel fungus treatment should be compatible with the fuel to avoid changes in the fuel’s properties. Therefore, compatibility tests are necessary before you use the biocide on the fuel.
It is essential to choose the best biocide if you want to ensure quick results. Also, ensure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions.