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Old 12-18-2018, 10:01 AM   #34
Delfin
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Join Date: Jan 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve DAntonio View Post
Without water in a fuel tank you can have no biological life (usually bacteria). A simple means of extracting water, a well with a drain, or a stripper tube, the latter can be added after the fact, I've installed them on many tanks, will eliminate the need for a biocide. No water no biological life, no biological life means no biocides are needed.

I wouldn't dream if using an additive that attacked aluminum. Among other things, primary and secondary fuel filter housings and injection pump bodies are aluminum.

My advice is to use additives to target specific issues, and choose additives based on what they can do. Those that claim to do everything, including clean a dirty tank, are suspect at best. I've cleaned or supervised the cleaning of scores of diesel tanks, the accumulated crud on tank bottoms almost always has to be scooped or shoveled out, see the photos in the article link below. Additives simply cannot remove this material.

Lubricity additives make sense because these are often added at the fuel distribution rack, and errors occur. Stabilizers and cetane boosters also make sense. However, I remain deeply skeptical of the one stop fixes it all solutions.

Two part article additives: https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/d...itives-part-i/ and https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/d...tives-part-ii/

Tank cleaning: https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/c...-diesel-tanks/

A properly designed and installed polishing system with sufficient volume can keep fuel and a tank clean. A polishing system can't clean a tank with years of accumulated debris, nor can dockside fuel cleaning services unless they access all baffled chambers of a tank. Otherwise they are simply filtering the fuel, which has value in its own right, just don't expect it to clean the tank too, again unless the tank is fully accessed.
Given the observation that 40% of fuel sold doesn't meet the lubricity standards specified by the manufacturers, adding one seems like a a highly recommended preventative. The testing of lubricity conducted on all major brands I referenced above helped clear some of the smoke and mirrors around the subject for me. Funny that some additives actually reduced lubricity....
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