OK, great. The new engines need cleaner diesel. Did they say how clean?

[Lelandwelds]

The old diesel manufacturers didnt really put much effort into specifying what was "clean diesel". That has changed with the new but they dont make it easy to find. I had to learn about beta ratings and ISO 4406 contamination codes.

Beta ratings are single pass efficiency for a given particle size. ISO grades are:

Larger than 4 micron/ larger than 7 micron/ larger than 14 micron

The targeted reductions from "typical as delivered" diesel are severe. For each of the three sizes: 2,000,000 reduced to 32,000/ 1,000,000 to 8,000 / 130,000 to 1000 particles.

The filter manufactures dont volunteer this info. The engine mfg bury their requirements unless you have a warranty claim. The filter mfg whenthey do provide info are using tests from the high sulfur diesel era that is stripped of the additive package. The additives can reduce the effectiveness of the coalescing water trap style of filter. They are really stretching the definition of "nominal" and I think some of the results are for multi pass which isnt right for fuel. The white papers I have found are from the 1980s and 1990s. They do not name the exact filters tested but their results say a filter marketed as a 10 mic "nominal" should be called a 30 mic absolute. One positive thing they found was two filters with two different rratings trapped a far higher percentage and range of sizes than they did separately.

I found Clean Diesel - Donaldson Filtration Solutions - MyCleanDiesel.com to have a lot of good information that improved my searches. Anyone have some favorite sites that touch on the above?

 

[YLee Kioti]

Good education thanks for that.
So I went here- Dirty Diesel - Clean Diesel Solutions - Donaldson
So been thinking about using a painters filter at the tractor fill neck to remove the very same brown gunk that is at the bottom of my plastic diesel containers.
Anyone have an idea to the micron size of one of those?
yeah I do plan on searching also. (for the search police) but does not hurt to ask and see if anyone has been there done that.

on edit looks like 190 micron for paint strainers.
Would like something to prefilter fuel at the filler neck.
I did try the water/filter funnel but that really sucks. When pouring a 5 gallon can by hand and trying to dribble it in ounces at a time.

 

[LouNY]

A simple solution for those filling with cans will be an automobile 12 volt electric fuel pump with some 5/16 hose for a suction and discharge lines with a simple inline filter in the discharge line.

 

[YLee Kioti]

A simple solution for those filling with cans will be an automobile 12 volt electric fuel pump with some 5/16 hose for a suction and discharge lines with a simple inline filter in the discharge line.

yup...was just window shopping on amazon.
will go to HF and build one with one of their 2 wheel dollies. Since I can't flex spine for 5 more weeks may as well plan this out.
have a good weekend.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Good education thanks for that.
So I went here- Dirty Diesel - Clean Diesel Solutions - Donaldson
So been thinking about using a painters filter at the tractor fill neck to remove the very same brown gunk that is at the bottom of my plastic diesel containers.
Anyone have an idea to the micron size of one of those?
yeah I do plan on searching also. (for the search police) but does not hurt to ask and see if anyone has been there done that.

on edit looks like 190 micron for paint strainers.
Would like something to prefilter fuel at the filler neck.
I did try the water/filter funnel but that really sucks. When pouring a 5 gallon can by hand and trying to dribble it in ounces at a time.

You might look ato these: Bag Filters / Sock Filters / Water Sock Filters / WVO Filters / Oil Filters / SVO Filters - 1, 5, 1, 25, 5, 75, 1, 2, 4, 6 Micron / Size 1, 2, or 3 Sock Filters- Utah Biodiesel Supply they're a poly felt.

The common rail engined are claiming they need 4 micron to 2 mic final filtration. Bacteria is 2 micron and smaller. I am more than a little surprised how clean they say diesel now needs to be.

The big users (fleets, mines, quarries ) are operating some impressive filter setups. They seem to be two step filtering the tank output (and each Caterpillar has two step filters). They filter each load going into the tank. They filter the expansion or make up air and dry it with desiccant, deliquescent, or some kind of supplied air. They use a portable polishing rig or pipe in a permanent one they call a "kidney pump". Some are running bypass filters or using centrifugal filters that run off pump pressure or use 120 volt to spin clean @ up to 8000 rpm.

My stuff isn't mission critical or worth millions but it is important to me. I think I can rig up something as good on a smaller scale. The 2 micron ( bacterIA size) and .25 micron ( almost virus size) mentioned is making me wonder about Chicken Little or something.

 

[3930dave]

Interesting material.

I was curious as to what Racor had to offer. At a glance, this series can get down to 4 micron:

https://ph.parker.com/us/en/fuel-filter-water-separator-turbine-series

Lowest capacity is 60gph and has interesting options (300w heater !), so probably is not a low-cost setup. Many of us would get really long filter life out of that though.....

YLee - if that is not particulate contamination on the bottom of your containers, have you tried dosing with biocide ?

Rgds, D.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Interesting material.

I was curious as to what Racor had to offer. At a glance, this series can get down to 4 micron:

https://ph.parker.com/us/en/fuel-filter-water-separator-turbine-series

Lowest capacity is 60gph and has interesting options (300w heater !), so probably is not a low-cost setup. Many of us would get really long filter life out of that though.....

YLee - if that is not particulate contamination on the bottom of your containers, have you tried dosing with biocide ?

Rgds, D.

Heaters arent as interesting where I am standing. I always thought sediment bowl and swirling filters were standard issue( as in required). Evidently they don't work as well as claimed. The Racors are darned expensive too. Messy and slow to clean, too. I am interested in the centrifuges that run off of pressure and turn 6000 rpm.

I always thought oil was the most important thing to keep clean. I was surprised to read that diesel followed by hydraulic oil have higher standards. That nasty DEF fluid needs to be filtered even cleaner than the first three.

The engine mfg say no free water in any amount is OK. Emulsified water is tolerable (?) but allows bacteria and fungi to grow. Pick the wrong fungicide and it can have extra bundled ingredients that can hurt shelf life or cause soft participates to fall out. I have decided the best approach is to use a Cim-Tek or Fill Rite filter on the transfer pump that swells shut if it is full of water and has to be replaced.

 

[3930dave]

Heaters arent as interesting where I am standing. I always thought sediment bowl and swirling filters were standard issue( as in required). Evidently they don't work as well as claimed. The Racors are darned expensive too. Messy and slow to clean, too. I am interested in the centrifuges that run off of pressure and turn 6000 rpm.

I always thought oil was the most important thing to keep clean. I was surprised to read that diesel followed by hydraulic oil have higher standards. That nasty DEF fluid needs to be filtered even cleaner than the first three.

The engine mfg say no free water in any amount is OK. Emulsified water is tolerable (?) but allows bacteria and fungi to grow. Pick the wrong fungicide and it can have extra bundled ingredients that can hurt shelf life or cause soft participates to fall out. I have decided the best approach is to use a Cim-Tek or Fill Rite filter on the transfer pump that swells shut if it is full of water and has to be replaced.

Much lower risk of gelling in TX, I'm sure. Heater option equates in my mind to a high end filter (not cheap), so expected a pricey tag.... AFAIK those Racor elements are one-time use.

This and other threads keep dissuading me from looking at new tractors, even with a lottery win....

Centrifuge is a nice way to go, but not cheap either unless maybe buying surplus or auction stock.

One of the reasons I went with Stanadyne's diesel supplements is they were designed to de-emulsify water in fuel. There is at least one other product on the market that does the same.

Rgds, D.

 

[Oldoak]

I did try the water/filter funnel but that really sucks. When pouring a 5 gallon can by hand and trying to dribble it in ounces at a time.

You are never going to find a gravity flow filter for the extremely fine filtration and flow capacity you are looking for.

 

[3930dave]

The biggest Mr Funnel is rated to flow 15gpm.

They will separate water, but not hit the low micron level OP is after.

Rgds, D.