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Asphaltene problems?

RobVG

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Jun 20, 2009
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Seattle WA
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17 excavators and a stewpot of other stuff
Three of our KW's went down with fuel issues the same week. Fuel supplier is putting the blame on the refineries.

The fuel took out injectors evidently because the fuel station didn't use "CRD" (common rail detergent) additives.

Has anyone else had this problem?
 

Shimmy1

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Aug 14, 2014
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North Dakota
ISX I bet? FTTP makes a product called sludge buster. If it is indeed asphaltene problems, this is caused by the super hot fuel being returned to the tanks, and the black crap builds up. Usually, you have filter problems first with asphaltene issues.
 

RobVG

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17 excavators and a stewpot of other stuff
If it is indeed asphaltene problems, this is caused by the super hot fuel being returned to the tanks, and the black crap builds up. Usually, you have filter problems first with asphaltene issues.

Exactly our situation Shimmy1
 

Shimmy1

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So have you been having a lot of filter issues? What the sludge buster does is keep the black stuff (kind of) dissolved and suspended so it can pass thru the system. I'm not sure what could have taken out injectors unless you have Fuelpro filters, and they were running without a filter.
 

Shimmy1

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I did some checking. I was mistaken about the additive. FPPF is the brand, SBG Fuel Oil Sludge Remover is the product.
 

ForceChem

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Jul 17, 2014
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8
Location
USA
That is a big issue in the petro industry. Part of the problem is that heavy crude oil that is produced from fracking is richer in paraffin and asphaltene vs. light crude oil from shallower wells.

The refineries even have a problem with it because it eventually clogs up their pipes and system which require them to shut the refinery down to snake out the build up. They can use additives to inhibit this from happening, though not all refineries take this route.
 

Catpower

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Sep 22, 2006
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52
Location
Prince George BC
Occupation
Electrician, equipment operator
I used to get the Asphaltene's in my filter in my 99 Do_G_ .What micron rating would hold them ? Then with a larger filter to be able to run longer? The one Cat filter has the 3 Micron that should stop it?
 

Scrub Puller

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Mar 29, 2009
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Location
Gladstone Queensland Australia
Yair . . . ForceChem .

Part of the problem is that heavy crude oil that is produced from fracking is richer in paraffin and asphaltene vs. light crude oil from shallower wells.

I would be interested to see any links detailing heavy oil from fracked wells . . . it would be unusual.

By their very nature these type of wells mostly produce a light grade of oily stuff that can be used to dilute Canadian Bitumen and the bitumen is more likely to be the cause of this problem rather than the US Light Tight Oil . . . in my opinion.

Cheers
 

lantraxco

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Jan 1, 2009
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Elsewhen
There were issues when the low sulfur fuel came in, at that point at least the refineries were using some kind of heat process to burn off or separate out the sulfur. Unfortunately the same process removed most of the lubricating properties of the fuel, so the newer higher pressure injection pumps and injectors with tighter tolerances (hence the move to 3 micron fuel filters) would gall and sieze fairly quickly. They supposedly add back some lubricating elements to the fuel. One outfit I knew of got a tanker load of fuel in their central fuel dock, the nextday one dump truck went down and by the time the head mechanic figured out the problem, which to his credit was not hours, they had a dozen trucks and dirt machines dead or dying. Shut the whole fleet down and pumped them all out, new filters, different brand fuel, saved most of them. Had to sue the fuel distributor to get them to make good on it.
 
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