You are concerned your fuel has degraded and doesn't meet its essential standards. You need to know what to do next. This is where talking with an expert can be a real help. Even if a problem is identified through the right testing (and interpretation), only part of the job is done. The challenge is to know what to do next (or even if there's anything else needing to be done).
This is why condition monitoring and testing for your fuel is so important. Condition monitoring and testing place the focus squarely on keeping stored fuel in its best condition by accurately assessing what that condition is. This can help guide you to the decision that’s right for you. These elements provide you with the benefit of a clearly defined problem with no wasted time and no wasted money. Just properly cared-for stored fuel.
Testing sometimes raises another important question - what if there really is a problem that needs solving?
This action might include mechanical cleaning or fuel filtration, water and sludge removal, and biocide treatment to kill problem microbes. Chemical treatments involving fuel stabilizers and corrosion inhibitors may be recommended to protect the fuel’s specifications for the future. It's most common for the best practices of fuel care to necessarily involve both of these elements - mechanical actions on the fuel plus chemical treatment. And since you've already done testing to diagnose the issue, all three of these together mean you've backed your way into the Hybrid Approach for fuel care.
There are few things worse than going through the time and expense of fixing a problem, only to find out you wasted precious time and money without fully addressing the issue. Making the right decision on what’s wrong with the fuel (if anything) and what to do about it are only part of the picture. You also need to utilize the right testing and diagnostics not only before problem-solving, but after, to confirm that the fuel’s properties have been corrected and the problem has been solved.