In computer water cooling loops, it's common to use a silver coil to prevent microbial growth. Could a bigger coil secured safely in the fuel tank prevent microbial growth from forming in diesel?
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Possibly, but how much bigger? And then, would it be likely to increase theft due to the value... – Solar Mike Mar 08 '17 at 09:42
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@SolarMike Nobody will know ;) BTW I don't think it would be necessary to install such feature if you burn whole tank of diesel in less than a month. In water cooling, fluid stays there "forever". – Mark Mar 08 '17 at 12:04
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1People do have problems with contamination of fuel due to bacteria... – Solar Mike Mar 08 '17 at 13:28
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But how long did it take to expand so much that they clogged the fuel filter? – Mark Mar 08 '17 at 13:35
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it's a huge problem with boats or cars that have been sitting. – court3nay Mar 29 '17 at 03:22
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@Mark if. A tank probably lasts 6 weeks in our car, but in the van it can be months (big tank, and while we try to get it a run every now and then, that doesn't get through the fuel fast). – Chris H Apr 28 '17 at 15:54
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@ChrisH You're probably right. I forgot that you can have more than 1 car ;) – Mark May 04 '17 at 08:01
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1Yes a silver coil will kill off microorganisms...Usually very well. But you may need the fuel to circulate a little bit, and the silver may contaminate the fuel with silver ions or particles - but diesel matters less, after all - you could run your truck on kitchen oil...(Simply running your truck every few weeks would circulate the fuel quite well) – Grantly Oct 25 '17 at 19:24
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- Does silver corrode from Diesel? 2) How fast will the silver dissolve and disappear? - It has to spread in the Diesel to get to the bacteria. 3) What does silver do to the inside of the engine and any exhaust components when residues build up during combustion?
– JimmyB Apr 30 '18 at 10:00
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This is an interesting idea! You could also incorporate silver or copper into a Fuel polishing setup (simplistically just a fuel filter and pump that cycles the fuel in the tank).
You can't use UV to treat the fuel because that degrades the diesel but you could try something that floats with silver with a high surface area that would catch the algae on top or something that sinks and kills the sediment. You'd have to see if there's enough surface area on the silver to actually inhibit growth vs. just replacing your fuel filters. A good product would probably cost 3-5x a filter to make a good marketing proposition.
court3nay
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