Using a biocide along with Star Tron

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

The above is quite correct. Using fuel additives in most cases is a “feel-good” approach which doesn’t do much good and can sometimes cause problems which wouldn’t normally exist.

Diesel fuels are refined with sufficient additives at the refinery to ensure quality of the fuel which typically remains stored in those huge tanks for a prolonged period at the terminal awaiting transport to fuel stations for purchase. Adding more serves no real purpose but marketing and advertising to the general population unfamiliar with the realities is an effective means of creating false perceptions = increased profit.

If you want to manage your fuel properly, ensure the tank is clean, the tank is devoid of any water and add a cetane booster. The rest is useless.

We've beaten this to death and yet you keep repeating stuff that's been thoroughly debunked. Massive organizations like DoD require the addition of additives to every gallon of diesel and jet fuel that goes into their aircraft and vehicles, and that isn't just to "feel good". Although to be honest I did feel better knowing smart people who were experts in the field had studied this extensively and we were following their guidance. So a blanket statement that additives serve no real purpose is absurd.
If you use fuel quickly (and yes, I've worked with those "huge tanks" in aviation and they turn over in a matter of days) and you're not in an environment where there's the possibility of water ingress to your fuel system, then certainly you meet the standard use case of the refiner and probably don't need additives. If you're keeping fuel on a boat with a real possibility of either water ingress or condensation over many months in a warm climate, then a biocide and depending on the setup an algaecide may well be an excellent idea. I'm sure you don't question that bioaccumulation happens, if you do there are plenty of folks who will be happy to send you samples I'm sure So prima facie the fuel coming from refiners doesn't contain what's needed to prevent that. So that leaves us with the question of if you believe the EPA certified biocides don't kill what they're supposed to, or .....? Should we should all use our fuel within a few months, ensure no water gets in, polish the fuel weekly and do weekly fuel tests and daily clear and brights (all things we did in aviation in addition to using additives)? Sure, but there's the ideal world and the real world. And in the real world biocides have been shown to do significant good.

[CarinaPDX]

Algae infestations are not STI's - they don't spread from boat to boat by lying alongside. They are spread through the distribution system to your boat (i.e. your fuel source is also the source of algae infestation). If the fuel vendors were actually using enough biocide to kill the algae we wouldn't be getting live algae in our tanks. Once infested it can be an SOB to get rid of. And if there is a significant amount of algae a biocide will kill them all at once, overwhelming filtration and even blocking fuel lines. Star-tron is an enzyme that is supposed to dissolve them, dead or alive, so they can pass through the fuel system and get incinerated in the combustion. It seems to me that Star-tron is a good strategy for maintenance but less so for dealing with a large infestation.

Consumers should be pushing back at the diesel suppliers - they are the source of our problems and they should be fixing it before passing it on to us.

Greg