Economy fuel polishing

[Emmalina]

Having picked up two tanks of very dirty fuel I Was going to pump it all out when a look round the workshop gave me an idea. Polypropylene 5 micron filters are so cheap why go with an expensive filter system. Also a little centrifugal pump cost about 300THB (10USD) and the water catching is done by a spare delphi filter block all works great and runs all the time the engine is on Hope this gives some of you an idea !

[GILow]

Neat solution. I did something similar when I had to empty the boat's diesel storage tanks after I bought her. They were both badly contaminated with water.

I setup a polishing station in my garage just like the one you have created on your boat and polished the fuel at home.

It felt like overkill for what was maybe a few hundred dollars of fuel, but the clincher was that disposing of the fuel in an environmentally sound and legal fashion was going to cost more than the value of the fuel itself.

I just polished it, two jerry cans at a time, and used it up over the next few years on the boat. Now I am actually ready to rip out those empty old contaminated tanks and replace them with water storage instead.

The polishing station has been recycled into the boat, with the Delphi filter sitting ready to filter incoming fuel from the new storage tank being sent to the day tank.

The pump, however, is quite an expensive bit of kit, but was bought for long term use in this new role.

[Emmalina]

Originally Posted by GILow

Neat solution. I did something similar when I had to empty the boat's diesel storage tanks after I bought her. They were both badly contaminated with water.

I setup a polishing station in my garage just like the one you have created on your boat and polished the fuel at home.

It felt like overkill for what was maybe a few hundred dollars of fuel, but the clincher was that disposing of the fuel in an environmentally sound and legal fashion was going to cost more than the value of the fuel itself.

I just polished it, two jerry cans at a time, and used it up over the next few years on the boat. Now I am actually ready to rip out those empty old contaminated tanks and replace them with water storage instead.


The polishing station has been recycled into the boat, with the Delphi filter sitting ready to filter incoming fuel from the new storage tank being sent to the day tank.

The pump, however, is quite an expensive bit of kit, but was bought for long term use in this new role.

What pump did you use ? Bought a few of these cheap pumps for another project (solar water heating) I have this theory that if it runs when the engine is running it will clean any debris thats washing around in the tank in a big sea !

[sailah]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

What pump did you use ? Bought a few of these cheap pumps for another project (solar water heating) I have this theory that if it runs when the engine is running it will clean any debris thats washing around in the tank in a big sea !

That's exactly the same thought I had and wired my polished to run either when engine is running or manually.

I use similar setup but with SS filter housings.

The pump I use is rated for diesel (Carter P4070) and has a few hundred hours on it so far, runs great.

[a64pilot]

I think you need to replace those hoses with Fuel hoses, and assume your filter isn’t in the engine room as it won’t meet burn requirements.

Then I guess a second comment, ideally you need a large volume of fuel flowing through the tank, enough to stir up any contaminant and get it into suspension so the pump can pump it through the filter. Often this isn’t really possible as we are talking about a huge volume of fuel, and with tank baffles etc. it just really can’t work.
If someone comes to polish your fuel, usually the have a BIG pump and HUGE filters and a wand a lot like a pressure washer that they move around in the tank to stir things up, and move the suction tube around to vacuum off the material off of the floor of the tank.
It’s the stirring things up that is difficult to accomplish.

[Emmalina]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think you need to replace those hoses with Fuel hoses, and assume your filter isn’t in the engine room as it won’t meet burn requirements.

Then I guess a second comment, ideally you need a large volume of fuel flowing through the tank, enough to stir up any contaminant and get it into suspension so the pump can pump it through the filter. Often this isn’t really possible as we are talking about a huge volume of fuel, and with tank baffles etc. it just really can’t work.
If someone comes to polish your fuel, usually the have a BIG pump and HUGE filters and a wand a lot like a pressure washer that they move around in the tank to stir things up, and move the suction tube around to vacuum off the material off of the floor of the tank.
It’s the stirring things up that is difficult to accomplish.

Burn requirements Wow thats a new one on me. Suppose I better think about changing my flammable asbestos soundproofing ! The outlet for the pump is bellow the fuel suction line so I always get any moisture or dirt drawn of the tank. I used o drain a litre a month but now this is no longer necessary. Regulations in this part of the world are up to you !

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

Burn requirements Wow thats a new one on me. Suppose I better think about changing my flammable asbestos soundproofing !

I think A64Pilot was making a good point.

Some regulations seem a bit over the top, but common sense suggests that a filter with those hoses in an engine room is going to eventually give trouble. Diesel is safer than most fuels, but I know I would be more happy with good quality hoses and a filter in a cool location.

Edit: actually, looking again at the plastic elbows on the other filter, I'd be even more worried if that setup is exposed to heat. Hard to tell from the photo which side of the insulation the filter is on, so maybe it is all outside the engine room?

[a64pilot]

Fire scares me more than sinking, hitting a whale, storms or even submerged shipping containers .
Always figured a fire was the thing that could put you in the water faster than anything else, hopefully not burnt, but many are.
Of course as a kid I was pinned under a tractor and suffered third degree burns on my shoulder and down my back, and I laid there waiting for it to catch fire, which of course it didn’t, so I have an unusual fear of fire.

It’s not hard to meet the requirements for fire resistance, so why not?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

Burn requirements Wow thats a new one on me.

I would hope that when folk buy fuel hoses they meet some standard if not ISO 7840. It's not expensive and will give a high degree of protection in an engine room fire that might make the difference at sea.

An example:

https://www.asap-supplies.com/hose/f...sold-per-metre

Why would you not fit the right hose?

[Emmalina]

Just bought a lot of BF2000 Extinguishers one automatic for the engine room so not too worried !

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

Just bought a lot of BF2000 Extinguishers one automatic for the engine room so not too worried !

Are they a dry powder type?

Thinking along the same line in our ER but concerned about dry powder damaging engine and all the other gear.
Saying that, fire will do plenty of damage as well and the several handhelds we have outside the ER are dry powder anyway.

$180 for 12kg seems good pricing.
Strange how the most affordable ones I have found are always at Hydroponic shops.

https://www.hydroexperts.com.au/Flam...nics-Grow-Tent

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

Burn requirements Wow that's a new one on me....

Most industrial fire safety standards were written by the companies themselves, after they lost both assets and people (petroleum, factories, paints), so yuk it up. They were NOT written by regulators, a very common misconception. API standards come to mind. I've done the investigations, and code violations are usually the cause. Your funeral.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

Just bought a lot of BF2000 Extinguishers one automatic for the engine room so not too worried !

Once a good fuel leak starts, it will run the length of the bilge, fire extinguishers or not. Then it may start to burn lots other fun places. I once watched a fuel fire (hose chafed on diesel truck) spread to a whole row in just a few minutes. Most people don't believe how fast diesel fires spread. It won't go "bang" like gas, but a leak combined with fire will give you just barely enough time to get off the boat.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Fire scares me more than sinking, hitting a whale, storms or even submerged shipping containers .

Come to Australia mate, I can introduce you to a whole lot of fresh new sea-going phobias.. like stone fish, blue ringed octopus, bl--dy great big sharks... or if you'd like some land based phobias there's snakes, spiders the size of your head and scorpions in practically anything you leave on the ground for more than a minute.

If you' prefer a more abstract phobia we can also do drop bears and hoop snakes.

It truly is a land of opportunity.

But yeah, fire on a boat is BAD. I had a spot inspection by a police boat a few years back and he went from being pretty happy with my fire suppression systems to starting to worry if maybe I was compensating for something. We parted on an awkward note.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Are they a dry powder type?

Thinking along the same line in our ER but concerned about dry powder damaging engine and all the other gear.

Tell me about it. I snagged the one in the deckhouse with a sail one day. Took three days to clean up the mess. Years later and I still find extra grit in my tea.

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Strange how the most affordable ones I have found are always at Hydroponic shops.