Industrial case histories of microbiological fuel contamination—cause, effect and treatment

doi:10.1016/0265-3036(89)90047-X

International Biodeterioration

Volume 25, Issues 1–3, 1989, Pages 207-218

https://doi.org/10.1016/0265-3036(89)90047-X Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper addresses the more practical aspects of middle distillate fuel microbiological contamination, whilst discussing briefly the problem and the causes thereof; emphasis is laid on the effects of microbial growth in fuel systems and methods of treatment and eradication are discussed. The use of chemical treatment in the form of microbicides is illustrated by three case histories of recently completed industrial/military treatments in Europe.

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Cited by (12)

Defined inoculum for the investigation of microbial contaminations of liquid fuels
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Citation Excerpt :
However, little is known about microbial synergy that occurs during fuel degradation. The topic of biofouling of fuels is not new (Hettige and Sheridan, 1989; Reisfeld et al., 1972), but research groups around the world must address it anew every few years (Bento et al., 2005; Klofutar and Golob, 2007; Leahy and Colwell, 1990; Pitcher, 1989) because the fuels change over time, especially within recent years as a result of the blending of fossil fuels with biofuels (Pasqualino et al., 2006; Passman, 2013; Sorensen et al., 2011). The number of biofuels will likely increase (Hoppe et al., 2016), and as a result, research into blends will become increasingly complex, covering physico-chemical as well as biological aspects.
Microbial contamination of hydrocarbons, especially fuels, has been intensively investigated, as the contamination leads to quality losses of the fuel or damage and even destruction of storage equipment. Researchers use different microbes for these investigations. Alternative inocula include pure cultures, low diversity mixed cultures or samples from (contaminated) storage tanks. In contrast to chemical investigations, no standards exist regarding the composition and use of the organisms; hence, the results may differ widely. Here, a defined mixture for the investigation of microbial contamination of stored fuels, especially middle distillates under standardized conditions, is presented. The organisms represent genera and species commonly found in fuel storage systems. The mixture includes 27 individual species, consisting of bacteria, yeast, and molds. The microbes use heating oil as well as biodiesel as sole carbon source and produce acids and surfactants during growth. The defined mixture is diverse enough to cover all aspects of fuel contamination but defined enough for easy handling during experiments including analytics. The defined microbe mix could contribute to greater reproducibility of experiments, resulting in faster development of technical solutions to minimize or avoid microbial contamination and its negative results during fuel storage.
Fungal contamination of stored automobile-fuels in a tropical environment
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Because of the lack of reports, the base levels of microbial contamination on stored fuels are unknown in tropical regions and it is unclear whether these levels have some influence on fuel quality parameters. Therefore, fungal quality in automobile fuels stored across Costa Rican territory was evaluated during two years according to the standard ASTM D6974-04. For a total of 96 samples, counts and identification of molds and yeasts were performed on regular gas, premium gas and diesel taken from the bottom and superior part of the container tanks. The highest contamination was found on the bottom of the tanks, where an aqueous phase was usually identified, showing populations over the ones present in the hydrocarbon itself (up to 10⁸ CFU/L). Diesel was the most contaminated fuel (up to 10⁷ CFU/L); however, an alteration on the physicochemical parameters was not observed in any kind of fuel. Seventy-five mold strains were isolated, Penicillium sp. being the most common genus (45.8% of the samples), and ten yeast strains, from the genera Candida sp. and Rhodotorula sp. Four of the yeasts were able to grow on diesel as the sole carbon source, at concentrations ranging from 0.5% to 25%. Increasing the frequency of tank cleaning, adding antimicrobial agents and monitoring microbial populations are recommended strategies to improve microbial quality of stored fuels.
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Four bacterial isolates from contaminated diesel fuels were tested for their ability to produce surface-active substances. One organism, identified as a Pseudomonas species, gave the highest activity, followed by a Bacillus sp. The Pseudomonas produced surfactant in the presence of mineral salts and glucose only, but the emulsifying activity increased dramatically on the addition of sterile diesel oil, producing levels similar to those quoted by other workers.
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