Water in a diesel tank
 

Hi,

I run a couple of diesel generators and the fuel supply for these is in
the form of three linked 46 gallon oil drums on their sides. They are
linked by 1 inch pipe at their lowest points. Diesel is periodically
pumped into these tanks from a main plastic storage tank. Over the years,
before we lived at the house, there has been some water ingress into the
main storage tank. The pumping hose, therefore---I know realise, sits
above the bottom of this main tank to avoid this water. However, I
unwittingly pumped from lower in the tank than I should and thus put some
water into the generator fuel supply tanks.

Two questions. First can I effectively drain off the water which sits
under the diesel to the point where the fuel is usable? Or have I to write
off the whole of the fuel and clean the tanks? As it is red diesel I can
now see a 50-50 mix coming through after a couple of bucketfuls of almost
"pure" water.

Second, one of the generators was running when this happened and thus
quickly stopped running! Do I need to do anything other than run pure
diesel through the engine or is it likely that further damage will have
occurred?

Incidentally, the crap fuel tank is being decommisioned, hence the final
disasterous pumping!

Colin

Water in a diesel tank
 

"Colin Blackburn" wrote in message
...

Two questions. First can I effectively drain off the water which sits
under the diesel to the point where the fuel is usable?
Yes but still pump off the good diesel from an inch or two off the bottom.

As it is red diesel I can
now see a 50-50 mix coming through after a couple of bucketfuls of almost
"pure" water.
That mix will gradually settle out although there's still an emulsion type
layer which takes forever to disappear. That's why I suggested pumping the
good stuff at least a couple of inches off the bottom.

Second, one of the generators was running when this happened and thus
quickly stopped running! Do I need to do anything other than run pure
diesel through the engine or is it likely that further damage will have
occurred?
Any damage that could be done has been done. Provided you clean out all the
lines to and from the pump and injectors you should get away with it though.

I suggest you get at least a couple of decent in line filters for the
future, ideally ones with bowls so you can see the sediment and run them in
series. Maybe also consider an auto cutout so that if water's detected in
the filter it kills the engine. I've had red diesel straight from the
delivery truck with water in it. Once it gets in the system the big problem
is the fuel that bypasses the injectors and is fed back to the tank contains
water in fine droplets which take ages to settle out so they keep going
round and round the system til they kill the pump. I'd also make sure the
engine gets fuel from above the bottom of the tank and regularly drain the
unusable fuel at the bottom to check for water.

Rgds

Andy R

Water in a diesel tank
 

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 10:10:32 +0100, Andy R wrote:


"Colin Blackburn" wrote in message
...

Two questions. First can I effectively drain off the water which sits
under the diesel to the point where the fuel is usable?
Yes but still pump off the good diesel from an inch or two off the
bottom.

Thanks.

I suggest you get at least a couple of decent in line filters for the
future, ideally ones with bowls so you can see the sediment and run them
in
series. Maybe also consider an auto cutout so that if water's detected
in
the filter it kills the engine.

Thanks for the further advice. The whole system is being gradually
overhauled to I will consider putting filters inline as I move things
around and replace stuff. Any recommendations for filters?

Colin

Water in a diesel tank
 

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 09:51:11 +0100, "Colin Blackburn"
wrote:


I run a couple of diesel generators and the fuel supply for these is in
the form of three linked 46 gallon oil drums on their sides. They are
linked by 1 inch pipe at their lowest points. Diesel is periodically
pumped into these tanks from a main plastic storage tank. Over the years,
before we lived at the house, there has been some water ingress into the
main storage tank. The pumping hose, therefore---I know realise, sits
above the bottom of this main tank to avoid this water. However, I
unwittingly pumped from lower in the tank than I should and thus put some
water into the generator fuel supply tanks.

Doesn't answer your question, but it reminds me of something....

Years ago, there was a patrol officer for either the AA or RAC who
wrote a book about some of the amusing problems that he and other
patrol officers had come across on their travels. The patrol officer
was interviewed on radio. I think I heard the interview on LBC radio
in London.

The patrol officer said that he was called to a petrol station to deal
with a car where someone had accidentally filled up their petrol tank
with diesel. The patrol officer told the driver that they would need
to arrange with a garage to drain the tank.

The patrol officer drove off after several minutes - and just as he
was doing so - there was a major explosion at the petrol station.

The motorist had pushed their car over to the car vacum cleaner. They
purchased a token, removed the back seat in the car (it was an old
car) to reveal the petrol tank and removed the inspection cover to the
tank. They shoved the hose from the car vac into the tank and put in
the token.

The petrol in the tank was ignited by the spark in the car vac's
electric motor and most of the petrol station went up in smoke.

Graham