An important factor of today’s world is electricity; our everyday lives rely on this source of power, and it is especially critical for businesses and services that supply is uninterrupted, therefore there is an increasing number of organisations need to use backup generators.
DP Fuel Tank Services (DP FTS) and TankCare (UK) offer a service to clean tanks and test/polish fuel for backup generators, ensuring they are fully operational at all times.
To satisfy insurance companies, firms who may have to rely on back-up generators normally have to run periodic tests on the equipment, but these tests are usually very brief and only run at a low level. To outlast a power cut, the fuel tanks for these generators are typically quite large, but very little fuel gets used in the tests, so a significant proportion of this could potentially be unused for long periods, allowing bacteria to grow, sediment to collect and the tank to rust.
All these problems can prevent the backup generator from functioning, as clogging will occur, making it less and less reliable, with no guarantee that it will survive a real power cut.
Twice every year, DP FTS and TankCare will come in to check on the state of the fuel and tank. TankCare will then take a fuel sample to determine whether it has high water content, high particulates content or a high microbial content.
If polishing is justified, DP FTS will drain any uncontaminated fuel from the tank into another tank or a compartment of a tanker, so there is always a reserve of clean fuel, in case the generator is needed.
The rest is then cleaned of all contaminants by TankCare’s mobile unit and held in a further clean tank or tanker compartment.
When the tank is drained, DP FTS thoroughly cleans the inside of the tank, so the clean fuel can be returned to a pristine environment.