TankCare UK has launched a fuel quality conditioning pack as an approved upgrade for tanks used to store gas oil and diesel.
The pack works in conjunction with internal pipework that circulates the tank contents through a cleansing cycle designed to dewater the wet-stock and prevent the potential growth of microbial infestation.
Instrumentation enables the process to be monitored remotely, making self-cleansing a proactive measure to ensuring absolute fuel quality. “This is an important benefit for wholesale distribution facilities and logistics consumers where operational resilience is critical,” the company said.
Tanks are designed so that in normal operation, fuel is not drawn off from the bottom of tank. Some space is allowed for settlement thus ensuring that the dispenser pump is only pulling clean fuel. After fresh supplies are delivered, the general practice is to allow some time for the tank contents to settle before dispensing fuel from the tank.
“This is particularly important in cold weather operations, where an additive is introduced to dewater the fuel and it is therefore necessary to allow this to diffuse efficiently, before drawing fuel from the tank,” TankCare added. “This waiting time is not always convenient for high turnover fuelling facilities operating continuously on a ‘24/7’ basis.”
The dewatering process is programmed to run periodically to minimise the risks of high concentrations of water being passed on to the supply chain.
In operation, fuel is drawn off and re-circulated through the conditioning pack, which comprises a two stage filter to remove suspended water and particulates down to <5 microns.
Key components include a programmable control unit, pump and pipework to re-circulate the tank contents periodically through a series of filtration stages. An (optional) ultra violet treatment unit can be included to disinfect microbial contamination.
For additional protection, customers can specify offload monitoring to ISO 4406 to check the quality of new deliveries of fuel coming into the tank. This is achieved by incorporating a laser particle counter within the fill pipe manifold. For further protection, customers can opt for a particle counter on the filtration loop. This then allows the tank owner to demonstrate absolute due diligence to guarantee the quality of fuel, not only as delivered into the tank but also as being dispensed from the tank. By monitoring incoming and stored fuel the system ensures ISO quality fuel at all times.
