Budgeting for Fuel Maintenance

As the Director of FuelGuard, the Fuel Quality division of Guardian Fueling Technologies, I discuss fuel contamination every day with customers. Unfortunately, many of these conversations take place after there is an equipment malfunction and their operations have been impacted. Tank owners who do not implement routine fuel maintenance are blindsided by expensive repair cost that isn’t in their current budget. If your business uses diesel fuel, it is imperative you include fuel maintenance in your annual budget.

When I ask customers if they had a maintenance plan in place and when the last cleaning was performed, often I hear silence, because it’s never been a consideration. Preventative maintenance only becomes a priority after a catastrophic failure.

The fact is, diesel fuel degrades over time and at some point, it will become a liability to your equipment and operations unless a preventative maintenance plan is implemented. FuelGuard creates specific Preventative Maintenance plans based on your fuel needs. Preventative Maintenance plans can include periodic sampling and testing, removal of water, and chemical additives to prevent bacteria growth while maintaining ASTM specifications.

The specifics of how to implement the Preventative Maintenance will vary by tank and use. If you’re installing a new tank, start the PM plan on the first day of operation, that will stop contamination from ever impacting your fuel or system. If you’re tank is already in service, it’s advised to clean and treat the fuel as thoroughly as possible and make sure to have a good petroleum technician assess your equipment to understand if previous fuel contamination has caused damage.

It's recommended to get a qualified Petroleum Technician to inspect your tank and fuel condition in order to craft the right Preventative Maintenance plan for your business.

Preventative maintenance is always cheaper than emergency repairs.

Call FuelGuard today at 800-934-6386, or visit www.myfuelguard.com to schedule an inspection of your tanks. Check out the Resources page at https://www.myfuelguard.com/resources to learn more about diesel fuel contamination and the benefits of working with FuelGuard.

Are you prepared for Hurricane Dorian?

As Hurricane Dorian strengthens and heads towards Florida, it is time for facility managers and retail gas station owners to prepare for what lies ahead.

For facility managers, when was the last time you inspected the fuel in your generators? The majority of emergency generators that provide backup power to buildings needs to have routine maintenance plans. They are inspected and tested; however, a fuel quality check is not always part of the generator maintenance.

A situation as this can create a false sense of security because a contaminated diesel supply may not impact the performance of the generator until it is several hours into continuous operation. Routine testing conducted typically uses a very low amount of fuel and it only takes a short amount of time to be carried out. These tests will determine if the generator will start, however, not how long it will run. As the generator runs for longer durations, the contaminated fuel gets delivered to the firing chamber, causing mechanical failures.

So now is the time to make sure your generators will work when needed the most. A Fuel Quality Plan is an essential part of a generator’s preventative maintenance plan. At a minimum, your plan should include routine testing of the fuel and chemical additive treatment to prevent bacteria.

Petroleum storage tank owners and operators need to also make sure that their equipment is tight and functional in order to prevent water contamination in fuel.

Water contamination in fuel can damages your equipment, engines, and causes failure at the worst possible time. Water entering a tank with ethanol-blended fuel will put the fuel in a phase separate condition, which is a state that renders the fuel unusable. In diesel, water allows for bacteria to grow and consume the fuel, increasing acidity and corrosion. Excessive water in fuel can cause imminent equipment failure. And even small amounts of water can cause serious wear and damage over time.

FuelGuard recommends regularly carrying out of Water Intrusion Check of your storage tank. This is a visual assessment of the potential entry points for water.

The Water Intrusion Check includes an inspection of the tank pad, fill caps, brass adapters, drop tubes, ATG caps, vents and spill buckets.

If you see any cracking, rust or water damage, or signs of wear and tear on these components, call FuelGuard today at 904-349-2347, to get a full assessment on your fuel.

If you’d like to download FuelGuard’s Water Intrusion Checklist, click here to get a step by step guide.

Your Business Runs on Fuel. Quality Fuel Runs on FuelGuard.

Do you Know your Fuel Health Score?

Your business runs on fuel. Your fuel has to be ready when you need it, whether you are a fleet manager with a business relying on punctual deliveries, a facility manager who needs a backup generator at a moment's notice, or a retail station owner whose business revolves around selling fuel.

Have you taken samples from your tanks recently to examine your fuel? Are there any changes in how your engines or equipment run? Does your stored diesel fuel have a high biodiesel content?

Your fuel requires ongoing maintenance to ensure top quality, so you know it will work when you need it the most.

FuelGuard, in conjunction with Bell Performance, is pleased to offer a free online Fuel Health assessment. The assessment consists of questions about your fuel and storage tanks. These questions help establish the quality of your fuel and tanks. Based on these answers, a Fuel Quality Plan can be established.

The Fuel Health check allows our customers to identify and correct contamination issues before their operations are impacted. By cleaning your fuel and performing your due diligence now, you can get ahead of your components becoming further impacted by contamination. If you wait until contamination builds up, it only increases the probability of compounding failures.

Click here to take the assessment: https://www.bellperformance.com/fuelguard#

FuelGuard offers fuel restoration services that correct fuel contamination. Our state-of-the-art process uses a multi-staged filtration system to remove pollutants, water, and microbial growth, keeping your operations running smoothly.

Contact FuelGuard today at 904-349-2347 to discuss your Fuel Quality Plan. Preventative maintenance is cheaper and easier to manage than emergency maintenance, and doesn’t involve any downtime.

Your Business Runs on Fuel. Quality Fuel Runs on fuelGuard.