design and specify a small, cheap fuel polishing rig please ?

sarabande

sarabande

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triggered by aanother thread of diesel bug, I wonder if the forum fuel specialists and experienced owners could get together and design and spec a small polishing rig for the many people such as me who have a small amount of diesel which needs cleaning, an dfor whom the cots of a professional outfit working on, say, 50 gallons are qutie considerably out of line.

Assumptions:
1 We can remove fuel from a tank into plastic or steel containers
2 These containers can be transported home
3 Mains or 12v power will be available to drive a pump
4 A gravity powered filter might be an option
5 Bug killer is a separate item
6 Cleaning the tank of sludge is a separate matter


It's very encouraging to see what e.g. Little Ship can create in terms of a very clean and tidy onboard installation, but a 'mobile' or portable unit (perhaps to be shared by other forumites ?) might be a useful item.

As simple a spec (perhaps) as

Suction tube of x diameter from supplier j
Pump type 123 from supplier k
n jubilee clips x diameter range
primary solids filter type 456 from supplier l
fine water/suspended particles filter type 890 from supplier m
output tube of x dia from supplier j
 
Set of two fuel filters, first one the kind with separator, turbo kind best; second a fine grade paper kind. Pump though them. (something like this: http://realenergy.net/files/images/racor1000diagram.jpg )
Such set of filters can be had as pre-filter, before the engine one. As the engine pumps more fuel than it uses, rest is returned to the tank, after some time you have a polished fuel in tank :)
Have a design of polishing system somewhere, will look later for it.
 
sarabande said:
Suction tube of x diameter from supplier j
Pump type 123 from supplier k
n jubilee clips x diameter range
primary solids filter type 456 from supplier l
fine water/suspended particles filter type 890 from supplier m
output tube of x dia from supplier j
Click to expand...

Sums it up really.

8mm pipe

Facet type circulating pump 12V

Standard Lucas/CAV filter. I prefer the Delphi filters because they have a perforated top and its easy to see whats building up inside. This type of filter cartridge is also about the cheapest.

I wouldn't bother with the fine filter. Diesel is crystal clear after the main filter.

Much of this stuff can be found on ebay but just get the whole lot from SSL Diesels (If you happen to be passing :))
 
Daydreamer said:
Sums it up really.

8mm pipe

Facet type circulating pump 12V

Standard Lucas/CAV filter. I prefer the Delphi filters because they have a perforated top and its easy to see whats building up inside. This type of filter cartridge is also about the cheapest.

I wouldn't bother with the fine filter. Diesel is crystal clear after the main filter.

Much of this stuff can be found on ebay but just get the whole lot from SSL Diesels (If you happen to be passing :))
Click to expand...

Yes, thats about it. But why consider pumping out and taking home? the above system will cost little and can be installed easilly and will always be available when you have time/need?
 
If you are going to take the fuel home, I've found all I need to do is let it stand in a collection of plastic milk bottles for a couple of days.
Pour off the clear diesel from the top, then you will have one bottle of very dirty diesel and many bottles of very nearly clean diesel.
Decant the clean again after another couple of days and it's clean enough to go back in the tank.
I just use a pela to remove a couple of gallons from the bottom of the tank.

If I were spending money on fuel cleaning, Ii think I might go for a system with a transfer pump and filter feeding into a small 'day' tank.
 
thanks to Trundlebug and Firefly for this and preceding posts.


I am a raggie, so missed the earlier one !


In addition to filtration on board, I have about a six cans of red /white diesel on the farm which need cleaning before they go back into a tractor, so a portable system mounted on a piece of ply (like T'bug's) is the way forward for me.


many thanks
 
I've done a little tank cleaning in my time and I would like to recommend installing one of these...

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Goldenrod-Wa...474?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item53f304d402

...with one of these inside it (in lieu of the filter in the picture).

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/75062-470-15...484?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ca460f5c

...as a very workable sight bowl/pre-screen for your fuel polishing machine. (No, I am not selling these or endorsing them -- just haven't found any other that are as big or that work as well for the price.) It may eliminate some guess work on the "am I getting any crud or muck?" side of things if you're using canister filters.

I'll try not to rail on but after a great many reads of a great many threads on fuel polishing I'll give my two cents on what I have experienced during the 500 to 600 or so fuel tanks I have cleaned. (Not a lifetime's worth but a good enough sampling to have an opinion...)

--if you are hiring someone to polish your fuel annually they are not cleaning any part of your tank.

--if you have your tank cleaned properly and are doing a little due dilligence with filtering and adding a little biocide every few tanks and before you lay up you should not have to go in and actually clean your tank more than once a decade. If that.

--if you are building a fuel polishing machine and it pumps less than 3500L/hour through a 3/8" return tube you will not be "knocking loose" anything.

--it is the suction side on a fuel polishing machine that gets 85% of the work done.

--polishing a fuel tank (to actually clean it...) is like vacuuming a dirty swimming pool -- you have to scrub and suck every inch of the tank... but mostly just the bottom and sloping parts.

--you can't clean a tank through a fuel filler tube.

--if you drain your tank and cut an inspection (plate) hole don't then go for a beer. It takes approximately 45 minutes before the stuff on the walls of the tank turns to concrete. Air is not your friend.

--If you add biocide it kills most of the 83 (yes, 83...) types of fungus, mould and yeast that grow in diesel. However, it then falls to the bottom of the tank and has to be removed... somehow.

--installing a 2 or 5 micron filter in your fuel system is a good way to ruin an injector pump.

--95% of fuel is fixable to a clear and sharp state.

--emulsified fuel is not your friend.

--bio-diesel contains 20 times more moisture than petro-chemical diesel (1500ppm v. 50ppm). So a 10% bio-diesel blend has 3 times the moisture content of regular (old timey) diesel.

--Bio-diesel (blend) emulsifies very easily and mixes very poorly with additives (they tend to just drop out) despite what a fuel company will tell you.

--A tank filled in 1998 and sealed will have less than 20% of the growth of a tank filled and sealed in 2008. (But a relatively equal amount of asphaltine.)

--Temperature variance, relative humidity and surface material has more to do with internal tank condensation than empty v. full off season tanks (as I've seen pondered on here).

Sorry to get off track -- my small contribution was intended to be for your polishing system question...

Boating. Half the fun is figuring it out...
 
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