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Twenty-seven (27) individual species
of bugs can occur in diesel fuel:
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Bacteria
utilise hydrocarbons and reproduce 'asexually' by binary fission;
swelling in size as they feed, they then separate into two
cells. In this way microbes double their numbers every 20
minutes, one spore becomes 262,144 in 6 hours. Typical
bacteria known to utilise hydrocarbons are Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, other Pseudomonas species, Flavobacterium spp.,
Acinetobacter spp., Alcaligenes spp., Micrococcus spp.,
Arthobacter spp., Corynebacterium spp., Brevibacterium spp.,
Klebsiella app.
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Yeast
bud
onto the parent cell, then eventually separate. Reproduction
takes several hours and yeast prefer acidy environments. Typical
yeasts growing on hydrocarbons are Candida spp., Saccharomyces
spp., Torula spp., Torulopsis spp., Hansenula spp.
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Fungus
grow in
the form of branched hyphae, a few microns in diameter, forming
thick, tough, intertwined mycelial mats at fuel/water
interfaces. Typical moulds which degrade hydrocarbons are
Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp., Monilia spp.,
Botrytis spp, Cunninghammella spp., Scopulariopsis spp.,
Cladisporium resinae, Hormonicus resinae.
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Sulphate Reducing
Bacteria (SRB) are a specific
group of bacteria utilizing simple carbon, not hydrocarbons, and
require the activity of other microbes in a consortium. SRB
produce hydrogen sulphide. SRB are also directly involved with
many microbial corrosion reactions and can cause sulphide
souring of stored distillate products.
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Restricted fuel flow,
uneven atomization and
incomplete combustion caused by slime build up in the fuel lines,
filters and injector needles.
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Cylinders
develop cool spots
causing uneven
wear to the rings and cylinder bores. Acids and gums can eventually
leach into the lubricating oil, causing corrosion of the crank
components.
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Some
species create acids
that remove ions from the atomic structure of metals: this is the main
cause of corrosion in fuel tanks, lines, pumps and injectors.
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Microbiological slime & snot shaken from a fuel filter
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Filter from the same fuel system (above photo) after fitting a De-Bug Clean Fuel Unit - The filter is Completely Clear of diesel bugs
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The presence of bugs in fuel has a definite effect on the quality of
diesel and is responsible for increasing operating costs
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Increase
fuel burn
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Increase
maintenance required on filters, fuel pumps and injectors
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Increase exhaust
smoke
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Increase equipment running
costs
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Decrease power
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Decrease reliability
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Decrease service life of all fuel system
components
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