Q: What is fuel polishing?
Fuel polishing is a process which cleans fuel and removes matter such as water, microbial contamination and sludge, all which are detrimental to your machinery, vehicles and equipment.
Wondering whether fuel polishing is right for your business? We’ve put together a guide with our most frequently asked questions from our customers to provide an insight into what’s involved and the benefits that can be derived from cleaning your fuel.
Table of Contents:
Fuel polishing is a process which cleans fuel and removes matter such as water, microbial contamination and sludge, all which are detrimental to your machinery, vehicles and equipment.
A fuel polishing system consists of units that are attached to a fuel tank. Through an enhanced, mechanical process, it removes harmful sediment through filtrating and circulating it back into the tank.
Our fuel polishing system use advanced depolymerisation to break down particulates and ‘polish’ fuel back to its optimum condition.
Cost-effective: When people discover their fuel is contaminated, the knee-jerk reaction is to get it replaced as a quick remedy. But with moderate contamination, fuel polishing and additives are a much less expensive, wasteful and eco-friendly solution.
Non-disruptive: The fuel polishing units are connected in a parallel fashion, allowing the infrastructure to continue functioning while the fuel is polished.
Polishing your fuel can save you the cost and inconvenience of having to replace your entire contaminated stock.
The consequences of running your equipment, vehicles and machinery on dirty fuel are engine breakages, blocked filters and eventually operational downtime. From generators, storage tanks and marine vessels, fuel polishing is a quick, easy and cost-effective way to protect your fuel system from failure.
When fuel is left in storage, it degrades in quality and is at risk from diesel bug, sludge build-up and microbial attack, eventually rendering it useless. Fuel polishing allows you to clean your liquid fuels without having to dispose of them and pay for a full fuel replacement.
A wide range of fuels can be polished, including red diesel, industrial heating oil and heating oil. As the legislative FAME content of diesel continues to rise, diesel is more subject to microbial contamination, and fuel polishing is a cost-effective and straightforward solution.
Many businesses invest in regular fuel polishing for generators to give them complete peace of mind that their back-up fuel is 100% reliable.
Before fuel can be polished, it must be sampled and tested to determine the level of the problem so we can deliver the best and most cost-effective solution. If the level of contamination is too severe, the fuel will not be able to be restored. That’s why we recommend annual fuel tests to help you avoid high cost and downtime implications.
We use a particle counter to look at the state of your fuel which measures any unwanted particles that have built up in your fuel storage. We analyse it against a traffic light system:
- green – compliant with legislation
- amber – just outside of legislation and requires polishing
- red – an intensive fuel polish is required
The fuel polishing unit passes the fuel through different equipment to little by little to remove finer contaminants at various stages. This is key, as a single process is not enough to remove solid particulates, water and wet foreign matter.
The cost of fuel polishing depends on the quantity of fuel and the severity of contamination. Get in touch today for a competitive price.
Fuel polishing and tank cleaning come hand in hand. There is no point cleaning your fuel to then put it back in a dirty tank – this would almost instantaneously contaminate your fuel again. Once we’ve taken fuel samples, we come to your site and deliver both services in conjunction to ensure you’re left with a pristine fuel supply.
The fuel is removed from the tank while it’s filtered and is circulated back into the existing tank, or new tank if needed, resulting in minimal downtime.
We recommend investing in a specialist fuel test and tank clean every year as this can determine whether you need your fuel stock to be polished. Our engineers aim to find the most cost-effective solution for your business.
At Beesley Fuels, we offer fuel polishing service to businesses across the UK. Get in touch today on 0330 123 1144 to learn more.
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