Caustic Burno
Well-known member
sstterry":1njzwk5l said:I have a friend that was in the fuel business and he insists that you must use an additive now, not just for the additional lubrication, but to also extend the shelf life and kill any algae that might grow in the tank.
I just finished a case for a friend where the supplier delivered a tank load of water contaminated diesel to his farm and it destroyed a fuel pump on one of his tractors. Until that time, I had no idea how quickly a very small amount of water can do a tremendous amount of damage to a diesel fuel pump.
The way that fuels are delivered to the wholesalers is interesting in itself. There are normally only one or two major pipelines and all fuel is delivered for every wholesaler through those same lines. Farm diesel, Exxon, BP, Marathon, etc all get their fuel through one large pipe from the refineries.
Diesel and gasoline are fungible products that run down the same pipeline and stored in the same tank farms. When you buy from Exxon you get their additive package that's put in while they are loading the truck. The next load in the truck may be Shell's and their package is added. Many a night I have swapped petroleum products with competitors to fill orders.
There is only one proprietary blend that is Amoco Water White that is not fungible. The reason for Diesel having water in it is due to steam stripping in the fractionation process lowering the boiling range by reducing partial pressure. Most of the excess water is drawn off in tankage. There is some that becomes miscible and takes longer to settle.