THE SOLUTION

The cleaning and repair of fuel tanks is a regular, recurrent and essential procedure to extend their service life and as a preventive measure to avoid accidents in the installations. The standard procedure involves manual and very dangerous work in which sediment, algae, sludge, impurities, carbon, metal scale and water are removed. Degradation of the fuel in the tank is an inevitable process that can be accelerated by sudden temperature changes, the presence of contaminants, exposure to high pressures and extreme heat in engine and group injection systems. This patent is based on introducing a camera into the tank to check its condition and whether it needs to be thoroughly cleaned, which can be done from inside the fuel tank.

The problem is being addressed in two ways.

With biocides:

This requires constant analysis of the fuel and the appropriate application of a biocide specific to the type of contamination detected, which results in higher costs and constant inconvenience. In addition, it has been shown that these biocides can be inefficient because by the time it is detected that the system is affected it is too late, as a corrosive biological mass has already been generated that clogs the ducts. To be effective, they would have to be applied at an early stage of the problem and use specific biocides for each bacterium, fungus or yeast.

Manual cleaning:

With this option, it is first necessary to assess each case on a case-by-case basis. In general, the larger the tank, the more costly and complex the process.

Process:

  • Removal of diesel in good condition

The diesel fuel is first extracted and stored in a temporary external tank. The excess fuel will be returned to the tank after cleaning.

  • Suction of hydrocarbon sludge and water

After the removal of the diesel oil, the solid residues inside the tank are sucked out by means of specialised vacuum suction equipment.

  • Spraying of diesel residues on the tank walls

In order to remove sludge, hydrocarbons and sediments accumulated on the tank walls, the inside of the tank is sprayed with special products with descaling action.

  • Storage, transport and management

This last phase is essential to prevent the waste extracted from the tank from polluting the environment. The management of this waste is carried out in accordance with current regulations on the treatment of polluting waste.

  • Micro-filtering and transfer of fuel in good condition

Once the cleaning process has been completed, the fuel is filtered back into the original tank in good condition.

  • Tank status update

The label and the tank number are updated so that there is a record of the cleaning carried out. In summary, once each of the currently existing procedures has been analysed, it is possible to differentiate between the costs generated for a company and for a private individual. On the one hand, for the company, to the cost of the cleaning process, we should add the opportunity cost of the time that the operating system is not in operation, which means that it is not generating profits. On the other hand, in the case of private individuals, the costs are also very high.

 

What are the disadvantages of this?

  • Cleaning, which varies according to the size of the tank and its complexity.
  • The time the ship is in cleaning and does not generate profit.
  • Sometimes the repair of the ship's hull.