Installations
Fuel Quality & Service Costs
Proper tank installation can increase quality
and lower service costs
I’ve recently seen (online) and
heard (in person) several
discussions about today’s fuel
quality and it’s supposed relation
to service issues.
I use the word “supposed” because
it seems that some people
tend to blame all of our problems on
something they believe to be “new.”
We had “fuel quality” issues when
I started in the field back in the
1960’s, long before anyone thought
Figure 1.
of bio-fuels or low sulfur heating
oil. After looking into some of the issues being reported
today, I believe that the same things that caused
problems decades ago are still causing problems today,
and the #1 cause of many of those problems is water in
tanks.
You’re all probably familiar with the credit card advertising
program that asks “What’s in your wallet?”
As I think about fuel quality and service issues the
first question I think should be addressed is “what’s
in your tank?” After a bit of research it doesn’t seem
that the quality of fuel being provided by reputable
suppliers is the issue. The issue that I’ve seen is the
quality of fuel in our customer’s tanks.
This picture shows tank bottom samples of 4 randomly
selected above ground tanks (Figure 1).
The sample on the left is obviously much cleaner
than the other samples which get progressively worse
as you look from left to right. The haze that’s visible
in the two middle samples is suspended water.
While these
samples might seem
“normal” to those of
us in the industry
for some time, it’s
important to keep
in mind that oil
tanks have changed
over the years and
samples like these
should not be the
norm.
Up until the early
1990’s standard
above ground tanks
John Levey
Oilheat Associates
NORA, Director of Education
had side outlets for the burner supply. These tanks
were typically installed with longer legs at the end of
the tank where the outlet was and shorter legs at the
other end. This kept water and sludge in the tank
and, in theory, supplied cleaner fuel to the oil burner.
However, it also led to the accumulation of water and
sludge in the tank bottoms as well as a number of
other problems.
For the last 25+ years above ground tanks have
been equipped with a bottom outlet. If these tanks
are properly installed, with a minimum of 1/4” per
foot slope towards the bottom outlet, water won’t
build up in the tank bottoms and the oil in the tanks
should be much cleaner than it was pre-1990. See
Figure 2. In theory, if a tank is pitched properly, any
water that falls to the bottom will be eliminated from
the tank through the bottom outlet and trapped in
the filter.
However, not all tanks are installed properly,
many are still pitched away from the bottom tapping
Figure 2.
Pitch tank towards the bottom outlet
1/4 inch for each foot of tank length
6 ICM/September/October2017