Fuel stability and fuel stabilizers are fundamentally much more scientific than anything else. We must be able to discuss them without becoming bogged down in the chemistry, which is a trap that is simple to fall into, if we want to learn more about what they are and why they’re significant. So let’s begin.
First, why should anyone care about this in particular? The condition of the fuel in storage is a worry for individuals who store it (which includes a large number of people). They require reassurance that the fuel will function as intended whenever they require it.
Regardless of the usage, fuel interacts with its surroundings.
If fuel didn’t change while it was being stored, this wouldn’t be a concern. It is continually interacting with its surroundings. When you talk about the general stability of the fuel under long-term storage circumstances, you’re referring to the fuel’s resistance to the processes that degrade it and cause its qualities to change (worse). This is also referred to as storage stability. If the fuel experiences major changes that render it useless as a fuel, then the fuel may be regarded as unstable.
When you delve deeper into the complexities of “fuel stability,” you start to learn that there are other “kinds” of stability, such as oxidative stability and thermal stability. Those are subjects for another presentation at this time.
Why would a fuel stabilizer be used? A fuel stabilizer, as you might have guessed, is something you can add to the fuel to increase its stability and make it more resistant to the things around it that want to interact with the fuel and make it “bad.”
What does “causing it to go rotten” mean exactly? We mean alter its qualities to the point where the fuel no longer performs as it should. This results in stratification, darkening, varnish and sludge production, and even considerable cetane rating loss.
How do these factors affect the fuel? The chemistry then enters the picture. Oxygen (from the air), light, heat, metals, and even acids created by environmental bacteria can all have an impact on fuel. These elements play a role in the chemical reactions that fuel undergoes, either by initiating them or, in the case of heat and light, by accelerating them.
The most important instrument required to stop these chemical reactions is a fuel stabilizer. That’s essentially what it comes down to: no chemical reactions, no fuel instability. The development of fuel stabilizers and fuel stabilization are thus fundamentally chemical projects.
It is clear today that stored fuel doesn’t keep as long (without changing) as fuel did in the past. It’s not because the environment has altered significantly; the water, air, and temperature have all always existed. It’s as a result of the fuel’s altered composition.
Considering that we’ve written numerous blogs on the subject in the past, it’s not necessary to go into detail on why that is still the case today. We make this remark because it leads us to the conclusion that it is no longer possible to utilize fuel stabilizers in fuel that has been stored. It’s essential.
Which gasoline stabilizer should you employ? To read through them all line by line would take too long. The greatest fuel stabilizers, on the other hand, are blends of components that all work in concert to halt the various processes occurring inside fuel. An efficient fuel stabilizer package must include dispersants, peroxide neutralizers, metal “deactivators,” antioxidants, and more. Therefore, you ought to be on the lookout for such items.
