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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/94351
York; and three sites were from California. While the sample was small, the sites selected were seen as providing a fair degree of continuity in materials, fuel throughput and tank size while maximizing the variety in age, prior fuel service history and geographic location. Five of the sites have experi- enced rapid and severe corrosion and one site was believed to be corrosion free. Those results were analyzed and a final hypothesis was presented. Specifically, microbiological activity was found in all six sites and acetic acid was found in all vapor samples, all water samples and in four out of six fuel samples. Acetic acid was identified in 75 percent of the scrape samples and from all sites. Additionally, additives and the fuel were seen as contributing to the corrosive environment in ULSD systems by enhancing the microbial action and, thus, the production of the acetic acid. This last point is the most controversial, as the additive in question, is ethanol, which was identified and measured in liquid samples suggesting that it is present as a cross-contaminant or that it was form- ing in the fuel. The Acetobacter process requires oxygen, water, low pH, and ethanol, which are all present in the tested underground storage tanks. The ethanol contamination would likely be linked to switch loading and/or manifold and ventilation systems. The formation of ethanol could be linked to microbes or fungi producing ethanol. www.npnweb.com n NPN Magazine The American Coalition for Ethanol is highly dubi- ous of the study. "If it is traces of ethanol in the fuel tanks causing this problem, many have delivered both petroleum fuels and ethanol in the same infrastruc- ture for over 20 years and we would have seen this all over the place," said Ron Lamberty, ACE senior vice president. "If the difference is the ULSD, then why isn't this happening everywhere you now have ULSD? The test raises some interesting points, but it doesn't prove anything. In the ethanol industry, we are not interested in covering up something if a problem does exist. If there is an issue, we work to find out what it is and then find a solution to correct it. But this doesn't seem like an ethanol problem that is real." It's generally acknowledged at PEI and among the Clean Diesel Fuel Alliance that given the implications of the study to the industry (basically requiring a dedicated logistics infrastructure specifically for ULSD), far more definitive research needs to be done to firmly confirm that the corrosion exists and that this is the source of the corrosion. Battelle itself rec- ommends further research on this issue. For example, it suggests that a larger and more diverse sample set be used, where the sites would be sampled multiple times over a period of time. In particular, Battelle proposes that steel USTs and tanks without corrosion problems be investigated. Furthermore, Battelle advises that the source and magnitude of the ethanol contamination should be determined. The study can be accessed at the PEI website: www.pei.org. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 15 A corrosion clogged strainer. Photo courtesy PEI.