From the 1st of January 2012, all UK Rail Gas Oil will be supplied as ULSD (Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel) as well as an ongoing trend towards higher FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester or ‘Biodiesel’) content in Rail fuel.
Biodiesel blend targets of B7 (7%) and B10 (10%) have been set by the UK Government for 2012 and 2020 respectively as part of a raft of European fuel legislation updates.
These changes, designed to reduce harmful Carbon and NOx emissions, have significant side-effects, the most prevalent of which is Microbiological contamination – the growth of Bacteria, Yeasts & Moulds in fuel.
Contamination forms as a result of residual water and heat in fuel, and left without treatment, blocks filters, and corrodes tanks and engine components.
Scientists have long known that Sulphur acts as a poison to Microbiological content, and lowering the Sulphur content increases fuel contamination.
In addition, the British Standards for Biodiesel blends contain more than twice the amount of water than regular refined fuels. This is designed to facilitate Biodegradability, which in turn, exacerbates fuel contamination problems.
These issues have been noted by the Rail Safety & Standards Board (RSSB) and nearly all engine manufacturers, who recommend the use of Fuel Biocides as a preventative treatment.
Fuelcare, supplies Kathon FP 1.5 Fuel Biocide which works as a preventative measure, dosed into rail fuel in small quantities, or as a cure for contamination outbreaks.
FP 1.5 is fully approved for use across a wide range of engines such as MTU, General Electric and Cummins.
Fuelcare have partnered with Fuel Technologies to dose Kathon FP 1.5 automatically into fuel lines as a ‘fit & forget’ solution.
Fuelcare & Fuel Technologies have recently won a contract to supply the entire Southern Railway Diesel fleet with Kathon FP 1.5 and Fuel dosing installations at their Selhurst & St Leonards depots.
The company provide a number of support services such as remote additive tank monitoring, maintenance, calibration and testing. Fuel Technologies can also dose up to three further additives to help protect your fuel from the effects of the cold (cold flow improvers) and improve Biodiesel efficiency (Cetane improvers) amongst others.
For more information please call Oliver Rumford-Warr at Fuelcare on 01283 712263 or email [email protected].
