Fuels for the navy

▷ Merchant navy, river transport
▷ Naval forces, French Navy
▷ Fishing fleets

In the navy the risk of contamination of light fuels by micro-organisms has been known for many years. It concerns the medium oil fractions: diesel oil and light marine diesel. This risk is generally controlled thanks to a certain number of precautions during storage. However, there is periodically an increase in incidents, of varying degrees of severity, related to the presence of water in the fuel.

The natural respiration of fuel bunkers in a humid atmosphere and the ingress of sea water helps to introduce a certain amount of water, which usually settles to the bottom of the bunkers and crates. It is then a favourable environment for the proliferation of micro-organisms. The heat, at around 25 to 30°C, accelerates the metabolism of the micro-organisms, causing rapid growth.

The organic matter formed, when it migrates into the diesel fuel, can cause serious operating incidents: clogging of filters, corrosion of circuits by acids or other aggressive substances, deterioration of the injection system, sometimes even seizure of the piston-cylinder assembly.

Fuel biocontamination can be monitored using our MICROTEST P field test, which complies with standard NF M 07-070. When contamination is detected, treatment with FUELCIDE D 1.5 at a concentration of 3 liters of biocide per 10,000 liters of fuel is required to eradicate it.