N.B. Domestic diesel bug

[Avocet]

We have oil central heating at home. There's a 2500 litre kerosene tank in the garden. Unfortunately, it's pretty full, having just been topped up for the winter. I've now discovered a lot of black sludge in the filter and I'm assuming I've got "diesel (kerosene!) bug"! Does anyone know whether the boaty diesel anti-bug treatments would work on kerosene? Also, I presume that even if I kill the bugs, I'll still be left with a load of black slime in the bottom of the tank? Is there a way of getting rid of that? Could I rig a pump and "hoover" the bottom few inches of sludge out of the tank? If so, can I then filter it in some way and put the good stuff back in?

 

[nimbusgb]

If it's bug then yes you can suck it out, filter the fuel and put it back.

It may be worth finding someone who does 'fuel polishing' near you and ask them if they make house calls! If not then getting the worst of it into some sort of settling tank and draining off the good stuff ( clear after settling ) may be the only way to go. Even a small layer in the bottom of a 2.5 cu metre tank is going to be 10's of litres of gunk so actually filtering it may cast a fortune in filter elements!

If, however, you decide that it's not worth the hassle I'm sure you'll get a lot of offers to dispose of the old 2500l

 

[Lumo]

However, also consider that on a domestic heating system is it crucially important that no small parts of fuel bug leave the tank and get into the burners? Is this such a disaster as as in an engine where they might clog injectors?

 

[aquaplane]

I'm interested in treating kerosene, or paraffin, too. I just heard of bug in a paraffin tank for a heater, never heard of that before but it stands to reason that it can happen if it can in diesel.
Is it the same bug?
Will diesel treatments work?
To OP, filtering the black bits out of your tank may not be too onerous. If they are big black bits something as simple as a pair of tights may work. If fines pass through then something finer may be needed, brewing shops sell bags for straining beer and wine which may work.
If you have a couple of tonne to play with it may be worth setting up a smaller tank to run your heating off untill you sort out the rest of the stock.

 

[rich]

May I suggest Soltron, http://www.soltroniw.co.uk/index.htm

 

[exfinnsailor]

Take it it will be near the bottom of the tank. So why not rig up a separate pipe over the top of the tank down to say 1/2 way. Put a filter in and use the good kerosene. The good part about it being on land is that it will settle you. You just have to work out how deep you can go. The boiler pump should be able to pup it out. If not use a separate pump and pump it into a 25ltr container and run the boiler from that. Good Luck

 

[William_H]

Bug

I would imagine the tank will have a drain for the bottom. Perhaps just a bolt head on the bottom. Use this to drain fuel into a container. Check after draining off a quantity if you are still getting black sludge. When finally you are not getting black sludge you can use the soltron or similar biocide to kill the bug.
If you don't have a drain plug as said use a pump with a pick up tube to the bottom and "hoover" up all the crud. The fuel that you drain can be left to stand so that hopefully the fuel will be clear on top of the sludge and water and this fuel can be drained off and used again. The fuel /water sludge part will have to be discarded. It is probably mostly water anyway.
So frequent draining of the water that collects in the bottom is one way to deal with bacteria. Do this with or without the biocide like soltron.
Many big fuel tanks will have a floating pick up pipe which ensures that fuel is only ever drained from the top. This way you won't get water or sludge sucked up until the tank is near empty. This might be a big modification however and of course it might not work if fuel feeds by gravity to the furnace.
Yes the bug is a common problem on aircraft that burn kerosene although not often seen because they take all precautions to avoid water in fuel.
good luck olewill

 

[ffiill]

My central heating tank does not have a drain plug;however dead easy to syphon it off or turn tank tap off remove boiler supply line and replace with suitable pipe to drain-Probably the slower option as you are looking at a 10mm pipe .By the way the jet on an oil burner unit is similar to those on primus stoves with basically a spark plug which fires across the spraying vapourised keroscene.
Whilst it can get blocked it is far more forgiving in my experience than a diesel injector.
I use the same diesel bug treatment I use in my boat tanks.