Fuel Polishing

Diesel Engines require clean fuel to operate. Emergency diesel generators have fuel storage tanks that require periodic maintenance to remove water and contaminates from the fuel. Water enters the fuel tank when moist air condenses on the fuel tank walls and then collects in the bottom of the tank. Removing the water and cleaning the fuel is necessary for reliable engine operation.

The most common reason for diesel engines in general, and generator diesel engines in particular, to fail to run is associated with “bad diesel fuel.” The things that make the diesel fuel bad generally have nothing to do with the original quality of the fuel. The problems come about because of the condition of the fuel we buy and what happens to the fuel when it gets stored, sometimes at the suppliers’ facilities, but most often in our own fuel tanks.

Generators sit idle for long periods of time allowing algae time to grow in the tank. Most of this contamination adheres to the wall of the tanks and you might not notice a problem while running the engines at exercise. Once the generator is running for a short time and the fuel begins moving around the contamination tends to start breaking away from the wall of the tank and entering the fuel. This contamination can clog your filters and shut down your engine. Having your engine shut down from clogged fuel filters can be inconvenient and very expensive to repair.

Our polishing process is performed with the fuel in the tank. Our system utilizes a 600 gallon per hour water separating filter system that filters the fuel down to 2 microns.