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Diesel Bug and Fuel Polishing


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4 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Pretty much what BT did for the  circa15,000 bulk fuel tanks that supplied fuel to their diesel standby generators.

The industry standards were closely aligned on  the basis the huge common experience. 

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25 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Pretty much what BT did for the  circa15,000 bulk fuel tanks that supplied fuel to their diesel standby generators.

 

 

 

 

You can get additives which claim to prolong the storage life of biodiesel, but I am not sure of their effectiveness.

 

Has anyone tried thrm?

 

https://www.siriusmarine.co.uk/OneShot-Diesel-Storage-Pro-Additive.html

I forgot we had had two standby gennys [Rolls Royce Eagles] at maidstone Ace high station, six months before we decommissioned it I fired up the gennys to get rid of the diesel, had to change the filters a couple of times at the beginning but after that they ran until they had eaten the 50,000 litres!! of fuel they had in underground storage. They auto changed over every 12 hours, and was the easiest and cheapest way of disposing of the red diesel

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2 hours ago, peterboat said:

I forgot we had had two standby gennys [Rolls Royce Eagles] at maidstone Ace high station, six months before we decommissioned it I fired up the gennys to get rid of the diesel, had to change the filters a couple of times at the beginning but after that they ran until they had eaten the 50,000 litres!! of fuel they had in underground storage. They auto changed over every 12 hours, and was the easiest and cheapest way of disposing of the red diesel

 

I managed a project to make several millions of older, high sulphur red diesel compliant with the ULSD standards for BT.

 

I found a company that would collect the old diesel, take it to their storage facility at Duxford airfield, filter it, dilute it with USLD until it met the minimum standard (some had a sulphur content of 5%!), add a lubricity agent (to help the older diesels in BT's estate), and return it.

 

Each litre cost less than paying for most companies to take it and dispose of it, because the old fuel was considered hazardous waste if it was to be disposed of.

 

 

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38 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

I managed a project to make several millions of older, high sulphur red diesel compliant with the ULSD standards for BT.

 

I found a company that would collect the old diesel, take it to their storage facility at Duxford airfield, filter it, dilute it with USLD until it met the minimum standard (some had a sulphur content of 5%!), add a lubricity agent (to help the older diesels in BT's estate), and return it.

 

Each litre cost less than paying for most companies to take it and dispose of it, because the old fuel was considered hazardous waste if it was to be disposed of.

 

 

This was in 95 sainsbury's city clean had just destroyed mine and many others injectors and pumps! The lube package had been missed!!!! They paid for it and many others for the mistake although it took a report from a oil checking company to prove it was their fault 

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  • 2 months later...

I'm making progress with my plans to ensure clean diesel. Obviously my barge already has a couple of diesel filters, and I've decided to add a "De-bug Uk L140" magnetic bug killer into the engine's fuel line. Invented in NZ, they cost £116 from Agriemach, a UK distributor.

 

In fact I'll buy two because (as I said some weeks ago) I'm fitting a self-designed fuel polisher circuit. This will take fuel from the bottom of the tank, pump it with an electric fuel pump, pass it through a water separator and paper filter (20 microns) and then through the "De-Bug" unit. This polisher will be able to run any time that there is spare power. As I have an array of PV solar panels, I'll put them on a timer circuit to run for a couple of hours as and when.

 

I've spoken to Agriemach, as I was concerned about what happens to the dead bugs; surely dead bugs block the system too? The answer was that the "oscillating" magnetic field "literally tears the bugs apart, so they can pass harmlessly thru the injectors and be burnt with the fuel". The list of testimonials seems pretty impressive, so it seems a small price to pay for the security of cleaner diesel, especially if, as Agriemach claim, both filters and injectors will last much longer with a DeBug fitted.

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8 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Are diesel bugs magnetic? If not, why would a magnetic field have any effect on them? 

 

 

Is arthritis magnetic and what about scale in water. It seems that magnets fix most things but as you never get to see the bugs or ripped to bits bugs you just have to believe the salesman.

 

Maybe this would work https://www.asap-supplies.com/fuel-systems/boat-fuel-polishing

Edited by ditchcrawler
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6 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Are diesel bugs magnetic? If not, why would a magnetic field have any effect on them? 

 

 

The same way magnets can soften water, give your car an extra 20% mpg and many other wonderful applications for magnets.

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1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

Is arthritis magnetic and what about scale in water. It seems that magnets fix most things but as you never get to see the bugs or ripped to bits bugs you just have to believe the salesman 

Now where exactly did I put that axiom prop?

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The following sites give explanations as to how the DeBug is supposed to work (by upsetting the ionic balance at the bugs' cell membrane):

 

https://dieselsolutions.co.nz/how-debug-works-htm/

https://dieselsolutions.co.nz/cmscontent/File/WhyBacteriaHateMagnets.pdf

https://dieselsolutions.co.nz/testimonials/

 

Agriemach said that while liquid de-bug additives work up to a point, the dead bugs remain and can clog filters, while (apparently) the  bits of "torn-apart" bugs are so small that they cause no problems. As I said, the list of testimonials is impressive, not least the fact that they include the statement that:

 

* The Dutch Fishing industry Research Institute found  that fuel filter life was extended from 2 weeks to 14 months; and  

As a result of this test the Dutch fishing fleet and Rhine barges were fitted with DE-BUG units; and

* The Dutch Coast Guard now require all their boats to have DE-BUG units fitted before leaving dock.

 

No, I don't wear a copper bracelet and I don't believe in snake oil. But having once spent hours in a yacht's engine room in a rough Irish Sea, changing  fuel filters every 20 minutes when the engine kept stopping and the boat was drifting without wind or power, I'm ready to try a "solution" that others have found to work well. And I don't need to spend £200+ on filter/water-separators, when I've bought similar items that are just as good for less than £30!

 

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1 hour ago, Trevor Lyons said:

I'm making progress with my plans to ensure clean diesel. Obviously my barge already has a couple of diesel filters, and I've decided to add a "De-bug Uk L140" magnetic bug killer into the engine's fuel line. Invented in NZ, they cost £116 from Agriemach, a UK distributor.

 

In fact I'll buy two because (as I said some weeks ago) I'm fitting a self-designed fuel polisher circuit. This will take fuel from the bottom of the tank, pump it with an electric fuel pump, pass it through a water separator and paper filter (20 microns) and then through the "De-Bug" unit. This polisher will be able to run any time that there is spare power. As I have an array of PV solar panels, I'll put them on a timer circuit to run for a couple of hours as and when.

 

I've spoken to Agriemach, as I was concerned about what happens to the dead bugs; surely dead bugs block the system too? The answer was that the "oscillating" magnetic field "literally tears the bugs apart, so they can pass harmlessly thru the injectors and be burnt with the fuel". The list of testimonials seems pretty impressive, so it seems a small price to pay for the security of cleaner diesel, especially if, as Agriemach claim, both filters and injectors will last much longer with a DeBug fitted.

Can I interest you in some snake oil? secondhand lightly used, hum the hum the fools and horses tune whilst reading this post ?

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1 minute ago, peterboat said:

Can I interest you in some snake oil? secondhand lightly used, hum the hum the fools and horses tune whilst reading this post ?

Nine minutes earlier, I posted: "No, I don't wear a copper bracelet and I don't believe in snake oil."

 

Do keep up!

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I used to work in the critical power industry, providing standby generators, amongst other things to keep essential services going when the power failed in data centres, hospitals and telephone exchanges.

 

When ultra low sulphur diesel was mandated in the late 1990's diesel bug became much more common.

 

The specification for diesel engines generators(which often cost around £1 million,  changed to include in built fuel polishing. This was achieved by fine filterting, never magnets.

 

Stick with proven technology and let someone else be the guinea pig.

 

 

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41 minutes ago, cuthound said:

I used to work in the critical power industry, providing standby generators, amongst other things to keep essential services going when the power failed in data centres, hospitals and telephone exchanges.

 

When ultra low sulphur diesel was mandated in the late 1990's diesel bug became much more common.

 

The specification for diesel engines generators(which often cost around £1 million,  changed to include in built fuel polishing. This was achieved by fine filterting, never magnets.

 

Stick with proven technology and let someone else be the guinea pig.

 

 

When I started to get problems I fitted a dual guard it works! Its easy to clean out and you can see the black crap in the filter.  Now it only supplies the whispergen and has kerosene in the tank rather than diesel but the filter stays because black crap still comes from the tank and clogs the filter,  i have no idea how the thread starters magnets are going to remove it? So for me its snake oil

Edited by peterboat
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1 hour ago, peterboat said:

When I started to get problems I fitted a dual guard it works! Its easy to clean out and you can see the black crap in the filter.  I have no idea how the thread starters magnets are going to remove it? 

Having taken people's comments on board, my fuel polisher system will now have just a water separator/filter (and no DeBug). The engine system already has two filters, but I'll go for belt & braces and add a further  pair of Dual Guard filters. My barge has a day tank, and I'll put the DeBug between the day tank and the engine.

2 hours ago, cuthound said:

Stick with proven technology and let someone else be the guinea pig.

 

I think the testimonials show that there have been a lot of happy guinea pigs already!

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22 minutes ago, Trevor Lyons said:

I think the testimonials show that there have been a lot of happy guinea pigs already!

That doesn't make them right though...

 

An interesting article here that shows a test of the various 'usual' bug treatments.  the conclusion was that they all work, but some work better than others (and some are MUCH more expensive than others).

https://www.pbo.co.uk/gear/12-diesel-bug-treatments-tested-43353

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8 minutes ago, Trevor Lyons said:

 

 

I think the testimonials show that there have been a lot of happy guinea pigs already!

I was worried by the mention of the Dutch fishing fleet, are they all owned by one company or is regulation so tight in the EU that they stipulate what brand of fuel filter they have to fit. The UK fishing fleet has numerous owners.

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4 hours ago, Trevor Lyons said:

Having taken people's comments on board, my fuel polisher system will now have just a water separator/filter (and no DeBug). The engine system already has two filters, but I'll go for belt & braces and add a further  pair of Dual Guard filters. My barge has a day tank, and I'll put the DeBug between the day tank and the engine.

 

I think the testimonials show that there have been a lot of happy guinea pigs already!

So long as the testimonials are genuine..............

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  • 10 months later...
On 30/04/2020 at 17:46, Trevor Lyons said:

I'm fitting a self-designed fuel polisher circuit.

 

After taking time to think about it, I've finalised my plans. Instead of a fixed on-board polishing circuit, I've decided on a portable system, and I've bought the following:

 

* a 1000 litre IBC tank (£60 on eBay)

* a 12v fuel transfer pump with a capacity to raise the fuel 7 metres. It has a 4-digit flow meter (£115)

* 2 Racor-type fuel filters / water separators (£19 each)

* a Debug magnetic bug-destroyer (£115)

* some used ladies tights (free from her indoors)

 

The barge has about 1250 litres of diesel that has been sitting unused in its tanks, and I've chosen not to dispose of it but to clean it for use. The system will cost about £330, but will avoid the waste of £1,000 or so of fuel; and  I'll keep the system to polish my diesel in future.

 

The system will have the two filters, one coarse and one less coarse, on the inlet hose between the tank and the pump, to prevent dirty fuel damaging the pump. The cleaned fuel goes into the IBC tank, and when the tank is full the hoses are reversed and fuel is filtered once again (perhaps with new filters) and returned to the boat's tank. 

 

The purpose of the IBC tank is to be able to see the state of the fuel, and to delay the return of the fuel so as not to unnecessarily churn up the sediments on the bottom of the tank. Once the boat leaves the boatyard by truck, bound for the Thames at Reading, the tanks will be left at the Longport yard.

 

When afloat, I propose from time to time to use the polishing system, taking the fuel from the port-side filler and returning it via the starboard filler, the large IBC tank being neither available nor necessary.

 

The Debug unit will be installed between the diesel day tank and the engine.

 

The reinforced toes of the ladies' tights will be attached to the pickup hose, to serve as a preliminary filter to prevent the Racor filters from clogging up too quickly.

 

Note: these cheap Racor-type filters have plastic bowls, and are not permissible for use within an engine room. 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Trevor Lyons said:

The purpose of the IBC tank is to be able to see the state of the fuel, and to delay the return of the fuel so as not to unnecessarily churn up the sediments on the bottom of the tank.

I'd suggest churning up the sediments in the tank is a good thing while you're  doing the filtering. 

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1 hour ago, Iain_S said:

I'd suggest churning up the sediments in the tank is a good thing while you're  doing the filtering. 

 

I don't disagree, and naturally I want the fuel tank to be as clean as is practicable.  (I've experienced dirty fuel problems in a yacht in heavy weather in the Irish Sea, and I don't want to undergo that again!) 

 

So I propose to get most of the fuel out into the IBC tank, and then somehow deliberately churn the remaining fuel and pump the dregs into a smaller tank. After the dregs have settled, I'll pump good stuff above the sediment back via filters and ultimately discard the  really crappy stuff.

 

 

Edited by Trevor Lyons
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