MONITORING PROGRAMS

EMERGENCY GENERATOR/FUEL MONITORINGTM PROGRAM

Program Summary
 
Business, and often human lives, rely on power in an emergency.    
 
A good Fuel MonitoringTM Program  for stored fuels represents the best possible safety and preventative maintenance measure to protect both the fuel and the fuel user’s equipment. This helps guarantee proper operation today and tomorrow. Research Laboratories’ Fuel MonitoringTM Program offers:
  • Professional sampling of your emergency storage tank fuels, if needed
  • Laboratory ASTM fuel testing and evaluation of tank water levels 
  • Fuel contamination level monitoring
  • Hard copy results of regularly scheduled laboratory analysis
  • Informative report for comparison of prior testing time periods
  • Review and recommendations for corrective action
  • Additional advise when fuel quality or storage questions arise
 
The Emergency Generator/Fuel MonitoringTM Program for on and off road diesel fuel physical analysis of a "middle" drawn sample includes:
 
  • API Gravity
  • Specific Gravity 
  • Ash, BTU/gal & lb
  • Cetane Index
  • Particulate
  • Pensky-Martin Flash Point
  • Ultra Low Sulfur (ASTM D5453)
  • Carbon Residue
  • Karl Fischer Water by Titration
  • Distillation (Initial Boiling Point to End Boiling Point)
  • Stability, Density
  • Conductivity
  • Viscosity SUS & cSt
  • Microbial
 
Included in the testing package is a visible water assessment, particulate and microbial testing on a "bottom" drawn sample, if submitted at the same time as the middle sample, at no additional charge.
 

If a storage tank is outdoors, above ground, or feeds generators or equipment which are outdoors and/or above ground, additional winter operability testing is necessary.   At a minimum the recommended tests are:

  • Cloud Point
  • Pour Point                              
Additionally, Cold Filter Plug Point testing is also available upon request.
 
 
Research Laboratories, Inc can offer sampling services for an additional fee which is dependent on the physical distance of your facility (or tanks) to our office.  Let our staff  travel to your site and handle the dirty work for you.  "Rush" service for testing completion is available in most circumstances for an additional fee.
 

 

 

IN AN EMERGENCY MAKE SURE YOUR STORED FUEL FIRES YOUR EMERGENCY GENERATOR AND KEEPS IT RUNNING!!

                     

Left : An actual bottom sample from a                                                                   Right : A standby Emergency fuel
storage tank for an emergency generator.                                                             Generator.
 

 
“KEEPING YOUR STORED FUEL EMERGENCY READY”
Diesel fuels (fuel oils) are made from naturally deteriorating organic compounds. Consequently, from the time these fuels are refined, they begin an inherent degradation process that causes them to be unstable and often unusable. This degradation can be substantially slowed through the use of stabilizing chemicals for a long period of time thus enabling emergency equipment a longer useful life.
 
As a result of poor fuel delivery and/or housekeeping methods, various contaminations can result in operational malfunctions: fouled fuel filters, plugged lines, fouled (and seized) injectors, inefficient combustion (burning), lower power production, and smoking during unit operation. These operational problems cause direct bottom line reductions in the hospital budget and can be the reason an emergency power generator fails to function when it is needed.

JUST TEST FIRING YOUR EMERGENCY GENERATOR FOR A SHORT TIME

WILL NOT ENSURE IT WILL FUNCTION THROUGHOUT CRITICAL TIMES

When stored fuel is burned for an extended period, degraded fuel components and contaminates may collect in the fuel filter elements and in fuel line bends and often plug smaller fuel delivery lines. These contaminated fuel compounds alter the fuel spray pattern and create poor atomization (combustion) when burned causing excessive smoking, increased unburned fuel deposits, higher engine operating temperatures, and additional fuel consumption (lowering fuel efficiency).

Solution to the Fuel Contamination Problem
Laboratory testing stored diesel fuel (fuel oils) over an evenly scheduled time period and quantifying contaminate levels is the only means to determine the stored fuel's true quality condition. Once the level of contamination is determined, appropriate corrective action can be taken to bring the fuel back to its desired usability. This allows the fuel manager to make the right decision and take the necessary corrective action to solve the problem before it becomes unmanageable. And, this corrective action could prevent catastrophic effects, which can result if an emergency generator system fails when it is needed most.

The Value of Analysis
Laboratory testing of stored fuel contamination trends on a continual basis gives an analytical hard copy record of the stored fuel quality. These monitoring reports are an excellent maintenance record that can be used in required state certification inspections and governmental compliance documentations.
 


For more information, please contact us.
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