cleaning contaminated fuel?
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Senior User
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Franklinton, NC
cleaning contaminated fuel?
The thread title may be a bit misleading. 
My friend, who's in the grading business, has a tank of fuel at his shop. It is about half full. We guesstimate that there is about 5000 gallons in the tank. That's right, 5000 gallons. This is a bit much for a bottle of DieselClean. The fuel has some water, oil, hydralic (sp?) fluid or iin other words, a bit contaminated. No idea how much contamination has occured but I feel that it would take a lot to ruin 5000 gallons. Is there a way of seperating, filtering or cleaning this fuel? Or would it even be worth the effort? I can use all that I can clean so you can see I'm pretty eager to get it if it's worth it. We got a couple gallons to start a brush fire and it lit off just fine.
Thanks, CedricR.
My friend, who's in the grading business, has a tank of fuel at his shop. It is about half full. We guesstimate that there is about 5000 gallons in the tank. That's right, 5000 gallons. This is a bit much for a bottle of DieselClean. The fuel has some water, oil, hydralic (sp?) fluid or iin other words, a bit contaminated. No idea how much contamination has occured but I feel that it would take a lot to ruin 5000 gallons. Is there a way of seperating, filtering or cleaning this fuel? Or would it even be worth the effort? I can use all that I can clean so you can see I'm pretty eager to get it if it's worth it. We got a couple gallons to start a brush fire and it lit off just fine.Thanks, CedricR.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: 21791
my guess would be to get several clean 55 gallon drums and use them to store the fuel once clean. set up a custom low pressure pump and several filtering elements. i would start out with a coarse filter, then a water seperator, and then three or four other fine filtering elements, finishing with a sub-micron filter. i would also run a sub micron filter on the truck before the pump to help also. it will be alot of filterchanging and setting up the filter systems, but it sure would be a hell of a lot less money then buying 5000 gallons of diesel fuel. also keep it treated with Diesel kleen. only filter it as you can use it too.
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From: New Hampshire
Fleet Owner
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From: Lake Tahoe, Nevada
A friend of mine used to have a 'fuel scrubbing service' that he operated at a large marina. Huge boats sit for months at a time and get contaminated so he had a fair business. All it consisted of was an a/c operated pump on a cart with two huge filtering elements. It had a long pickup line that he would drop to the low point in the tanks and a shorter line that returned the fuel. He would hook it up and let it run, time depending on the size of the tanks. Basically he calculated how long it would take to pump all of the fuel in the tanks about six times. Great results. (Talk about easy work!)
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Joined: Jun 2005
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From: New Hampshire
Originally Posted by Bdox
A friend of mine used to have a 'fuel scrubbing service' that he operated at a large marina. Huge boats sit for months at a time and get contaminated so he had a fair business. All it consisted of was an a/c operated pump on a cart with two huge filtering elements. It had a long pickup line that he would drop to the low point in the tanks and a shorter line that returned the fuel. He would hook it up and let it run, time depending on the size of the tanks. Basically he calculated how long it would take to pump all of the fuel in the tanks about six times. Great results. (Talk about easy work!)
Nut
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it also might be a good idea to try to pump off the top, and just leave the bottom layer alone, as that's where all the water will settle. when i make my biodiesel, i let the oil settle first (water drops out), then heat it (last bit of water drops out), then after reaction, i run through a two stage filter set up i built out of hydraulic parts i got from a local truck place. they are all wix parts:
filter heads: wix part no. 24759
5m filter: wix part no. 51746
25m filter: wix part no. 51758
i also use a clearwater pump from harborfreight.com
i pump the finished stuff into the 25m filter, then the 5m filter, then into my tank. no probs so far.
i believe the whole filter setup was about $60.
filter heads: wix part no. 24759
5m filter: wix part no. 51746
25m filter: wix part no. 51758
i also use a clearwater pump from harborfreight.com
i pump the finished stuff into the 25m filter, then the 5m filter, then into my tank. no probs so far.
i believe the whole filter setup was about $60.
Last edited by fergysamsoil; Jun 18, 2006 at 12:50 PM.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 28,609
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From: Lake Tahoe, Nevada
You might consider spending a lot more than sixty bucks for filtering 5,000 gallons of contaminated fuel. Probably $200 for the pump alone (ten gpm.), then a water separator and several stages of filtration. Big filters too, so you are not changing them every hour.
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Thread Starter
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From: Franklinton, NC
Whoa! The knowledge on this site never fails to impress me! Getting this much fuel was kinda like a fantasy; I posted on a whim. Now I'm thinking I could really do it.
Doubt I'll need a pump. The tank is sitting on top of the ground with a
2 1/2" line with a shut-off valve. We already have two 275 gallon tanks set up with filters and they are high enough to feed fuel into the truck(s) via gravity. It would be easier to get the fuel into these tanks with a pump. We have a old diesel pump from a service station, I'll check it out to see if it still works.
Hummmmm..... if the pump works, permanantly plumb it up (feeding power from the shop), set up a bank of filters and pump the clean fuel into the present holding tanks.... I just might could do it!
Doubt I'll need a pump. The tank is sitting on top of the ground with a
2 1/2" line with a shut-off valve. We already have two 275 gallon tanks set up with filters and they are high enough to feed fuel into the truck(s) via gravity. It would be easier to get the fuel into these tanks with a pump. We have a old diesel pump from a service station, I'll check it out to see if it still works.
Hummmmm..... if the pump works, permanantly plumb it up (feeding power from the shop), set up a bank of filters and pump the clean fuel into the present holding tanks.... I just might could do it!
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Originally Posted by PSNut
Definitely talk to Ralph(sponsor) for your filtering needs...click HERE. Pick up a Carter pump from Jegs(sponsor) and filter like Kris mentioned. Ralph's filter WILL clean your fuel sub-micron.
Nut
Nut
What I have wanted for the last 40 years is a filter that can filter down to submicronic and remove water like bathroom tissue with the size advantage of a big filter element. I have found it with the Scott. You can get good results with about 15 bathroom tissue filters in parallel but it is a hassle and expensive. When I changed the big filter on the Ford diesel it took 3 1/2 gallons of make up oil. The newest models have 1/2" NPT ports with a 3/8" drain port. It is the best housing I have found. The lube oil filter has an orifice; the fuel filter needs the orifice removed.
Ralph
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From: San Antonio, Tx.
If the fuel is contiminated with other products (I noticed you mentioned hydraulic fluid) I would recommend sending it off to be tested after you have run it through the above mentioned filtering process. At least for piece of mind.
An inspection company will be able to run a full slate of tests on the LSD and can treat the fuel for you or make recommendations to put it back on spec.
Just my 2c, but if it was my engine I would want to know that everything will run through without damage.
An inspection company will be able to run a full slate of tests on the LSD and can treat the fuel for you or make recommendations to put it back on spec.
Just my 2c, but if it was my engine I would want to know that everything will run through without damage.
Thread Starter
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From: Franklinton, NC
Originally Posted by wla6518
If the fuel is contiminated with other products (I noticed you mentioned hydraulic fluid) I would recommend sending it off to be tested after you have run it through the above mentioned filtering process. At least for piece of mind.
An inspection company will be able to run a full slate of tests on the LSD and can treat the fuel for you or make recommendations to put it back on spec.
Just my 2c, but if it was my engine I would want to know that everything will run through without damage.
An inspection company will be able to run a full slate of tests on the LSD and can treat the fuel for you or make recommendations to put it back on spec.
Just my 2c, but if it was my engine I would want to know that everything will run through without damage.
Thanks, CedricR.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 434
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From: San Antonio, Tx.
Well, im not sure if the guys that service the major oil companies would help, but you can give them a call and they might be able to point you in the right direction. Here are a couple you can google: Caleb Brett, Inspectorate or Saybolt.
I imagine one should be able to give you a hand.
I imagine one should be able to give you a hand.