Macerator Pump Specialists Understand the Need for Safe Fuel Storage
Your Macerator Pump Professionals Know That Fuel Storage Can Be Tricky
Raritan Engineering would like to share with you this week these suggestions for safe fuel storage.
Practical Sailor contributor, Chesapeake Bay sailing blogger, and chemistry guru Drew Frye is back in the lab with his beakers, test tubes, and mason jars investigating fuel additives, this time fuel storage additives.
The fuel storage additive study is proving to be a tricky one, partly because treated gas is capable of being stored for very long time in the right conditions.
Sometimes it is not what has been added to your fuel that matters, but what is missing. The most obvious difference between gasoline and diesel during our vented aging tests is that gasoline samples evaporated and required replenishment at the mid-way point.
There are several things you can do to ensure that fuel doesn’t go bad over the off-season, or during periods of long-term storage.
- Reduce permeation. New EPA requirements for low permeation jerry cans, plastic tanks, and hoses are a blessing. The loss of vital volatile material is reduced and odors are reduced. However, our experience with the new jerry cans and portable tanks has been disappointing.
- Store in a cool place. Keep jerry cans out of the sun whenever possible.
- Vent filters. The EPA mandated carbon filters on new boats and aftermarket silica gel filters reduce water absorption and reduce breathing losses. Over a typical 10-years life, these filters can pay for themselves in saved fuel alone (we checked the calculations—depending on the boat you can expect to save 1-3 gallons per year), before factoring in reduced engine problems caused by corrosion and varnish.
For more on fuel additives, check out my post two weeks ago, “Fuel Additives: Snake Oil or Good Science.” which has some additional links. Diesel engine owners will want to read the article in our January 2014 issue “Diesel Fuel System Maintenance Best Practices.”
Your Macerator Pump Analysts Explain Why Older and Newer Boats Can Differ In Storage Techniques
Your macerator pump experts want to make sure that safety is always the first priority when storing fuel.
1. On many older vessels, the HFO flow meter does not function correctly (in many cases the return oil flow meter is either not provided or not functioning correctly) and is not being regularly serviced and calibrated. Maintenance of HFO flow meter should form a part of the PMS and Continuous machinery survey to underline it’s importance.
2. Understanding the correct procedure for bunkering is extremely important for the safety of the vessel and for preventing oil spill. Companies and port authorities must also provide necessary training and guidance to ensure safe bunkering procedures.
3. Sounding pipes must be used properly to prevent errors in tank readings. In many cases we are not able to properly put the tape in the sounding pipes resulting in erroneous readings. If the sounding pipe is straight, using a rod (a nut welded to the end to fasten rope) is quite effective to take ullage especially in cold climates.
4. It is good to know the tank characteristic from experience of previous crew as well and record of regular soundings and quantity determination kept in computer, which normally convinces the off/on hire surveyors.
5. Correct sampling and expeditious dispatch for fuel testing to laboratory must be done properly. Some disputes regarding quality have been reported in fuels picked up from a Ukraine port (water and total sediment potential) and some times from Houston areas.
6. On bulk carriers, which carry powdery cargo, we must carefully examine the air pipes and sounding pipes which pass through the hatches (hidden behind structural protection) to see that there is no wastage and hole in them through which the cargo can find way to fuel in the tanks below. This aspect is commonly neglected these days.
Visit us at http://raritaneng.com/raritan-product-line/waste-treatment/macerator-pump/ for more information from Raritan Engineering regarding all of your marine supply needs.
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