Hipolito H502 Automatic

Not sure about the algae thing in fuel, but there's a common problem with bacterias in diesel, so why not in paraffin. They are related.
Especially at sea those bacterias can occur since you generally have more condensed water in your tanks there (they need a bit of water to live, those creatures), and I have to put in an additive in the tank of my boat to prevent this.
Those bloody bacterias causes a thick substance that easily clogs the filter and also get the plunger in the fuel pump to stick.

I had to clean out the tank with acetone a couple of years ago to get rid of this very thick and nasty stuff. It was like syrup, just tackier!

 

What I'm driving at here, is whether this 'stuff' is actually a living organism or the product of a chemical reaction within the fuel i.e. it's some sort of chemical substance.

I'm aware that from the practical point of view, it may be entirely academic and the filters get blocked whatever this is. But I'm a biologist so please humour me.

I do know that some people believe that verdigris is also a living organism - it isn't - in the simplest possible terms it's copper 'rust'...

 

Jon,

For storing lamps, the best way is to empty the tank. Water (condensation) tends to creep under the petroleum so oxidation (rust) will start too under the fuel.

Like I said, gauge is an indicator. Not more. If you dare you may remove the cap and look inside to check if it is filthy too. There is a kind of adjustment that can be made.

Some pre heater jets don't work on the 2bar mark or high pressure. I guess this is due to a worn down jet or dirt in the system. Especially the two or 4 little air hole in the first part can be clogged up.

Most worrying is the fact that it seem to be be a short of time machine, mixing up your memories for some time. Better contact the Doctor about that ...

 

Me myself don't really think it's the bacterias in the paraffin tanks (or any kind of algae).
I was just mentioning the fact that there exist oil eating bacterias, and that they are a common and big problem, which I also have my own experience of.

When it comes to our stuff here, I have no idea what it is, but the (generally) green colour of this stuff may rather point in the chemical direction since it's almost always brass in our tanks, right?
This topic was up at CCS not so long ago, so it can be read, and perhaps commented, here.

 

Perhaps algae wasn't the correct word, I'm a lampie not a scholar

 

It seems, deep down the "valleys" at the bottom of the oceans scientists have found 'life' (bacteria? algae? wotevr?) that digests oil (crude oil, spillage from (leaking) tankers& other ships etc.). Maybe (very possibly!) 'they' will also love paraffin

Best regards,

Wim

 

Yes, but how would they/it/whatever get from "the bottom of the oceans" into your lamp tanks?

Maybe the Easter Bunny brings them...

My personal opinion is that this 'stuff' isn't a living organism at all - it's just some organo-metallic compound caused by the interaction of the fuel and the tank walls. Copper is a transition metal and they tend to have coloured compounds - typically blue or green for copper...

 

In many cases oil comes from below the bottom of the ocean, and even if it does not now, it was the below the bottom of the ocean at one time past. Maybe the bugs have come to the refinery with the oil and have survived the refraction tower process to manifest themselves in kerosene? Anyway, I do know that the MoD fuels laboratory definitely found biological growth in aircraft fuel tanks as far back as 1966. Steve.

 

Organic growth, or bacterial growth is very common on "paraffin" ( I call it Kerosene, but at work we call it "Jet 1" I just spent one week cleaning the fuel tanks in a corporate jet, gooey stuff made of anaerobic bacteria and fungi), it is not a chemical reaction as most fuel tanks in aircraft are made of aluminum or composites, there is a test to verify organic contamination on Kerosene (or jet fuel..this thing is not cheap), here is the link:

http://www.avlab.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AL-BC

Cheers. Werner

 

This Wikipedia article has a paragraph on bacteria in Aviation Fuel (similar to paraffin).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_corrosion