Overcoming the Challenges of Water in Fuel

The introduction of biodiesel and biodiesel blends made from renewable resources has resulted in the presence of more stable and higher concentrations of water emulsions in diesel.

Today's high-pressure common rail (HPCR) systems are more susceptible to damage from water, which is a particularly challenging contaminant in fuel. Water can cause fuel filter plugging, injector deposit buildup, reduce lubrication qualities and cause injector seizure and engine damage, thereby resulting in unnecessary downtime and equipment failure. In onboard and bulk fuel tanks, it can also lead to bacterial growth.

To overcome these challenges, modern engines are experiencing a trend towards more reliable fuel/water separation, where primary filters are transitioning to advanced filtration technology referred to in the industry as coalescing filtration. In this style of filter, multi-layered filter media and multiple stages of filtration and separation are used to grow finer water droplets into larger ones and reliably remove them from diesel fuel through the life of the filter.

Fuel filtration is on the front line of your defense against downtime and operational expenses. Contaminants in diesel fuel such as water (in addition to hard particles, dirt and organic soft particles) can have a wide range of impacts to equipment, some of which can have profound issues relating to warranty and the total cost of ownership.