066 - Back to School - Fuel Sampling Part 1

This episode explores proper fuel sampling techniques as part of effective fuel maintenance. Erik Bjornstad discusses the critical aspects of where and how to take fuel samples to ensure accurate testing results. He explains that sample location significantly impacts test outcomes, with different tank depths containing varying levels of contaminants.

The episode covers specific sampling depths, proper port selection, and why dead bottom samples should be avoided. Bjornstad emphasizes that sampling technique directly affects the reliability of test results and their representation of the overall fuel quality in a tank.

What You'll Learn:

• The relationship between sampling technique and test result accuracy
• Optimal sampling locations within fuel tanks
• Why choosing the right sampling port matters
• Proper sampling depths for top, middle, and bottom samples
• Common pitfalls in fuel sampling
• How contaminants distribute throughout fuel tanks

Ideas Worth Sharing:

Here are three notable quotes from the podcast episode:

• "Test results really are only true of the sample submitted for testing."
• "The bottom of the fuel tank is where most of the particulate and the microbial contamination... that's where most of those things are concentrated."
• "Bottom sample does not mean a dead bottom sample right at the very bottom."

Resources Mentioned:

• Erik Bjornstad: LinkedIn

Show Notes:

[0:00] - Introduction and episode overview
[1:00] - Importance of proper sampling techniques
[2:00] - Sampling locations and their impact on test results
[3:00] - Bottom tank contamination considerations
[4:00] - Middle and top sampling implications
[5:00] - Port selection for sampling
[6:00] - Defining sample depths
[7:00] - Bottom sampling best practices
[7:30] - Closing remarks

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Fuel Pulse Showpodcast, where we talk about all

(00:03):
things fuel for all kinds of people.
I'm your host Eric Bjornstadand I'll be your guide through
the ever changing world of fuel.
In our series, Fuel Pulse Show,Back to School, we've aimed to give
quick 5 to 10 minute overviews ofthe essential topics that go into
proper fuel care and treatment.

(00:24):
You likely at least have an ideathat testing happens to be an
element of good fuel maintenance.
And that's what we're going totalk about on today's episode.
So testing is an element of good fuelmaintenance, but testing relies on
being able to take a good fuel sample.
Because if you think about it, atest results really are only true

(00:46):
of the sample submitted for testing.
But, people assume that theirsample is representative of the
larger body of fuel in their system.
Which is why they assumethat the results are true.
done on their sample are automaticallywhat the results are going to
be for the rest of their fuel.
Yet, if they have bad samplingtechniques, and they don't get a

(01:09):
good sample, this may not be true.
So we're going to talk abouthow not to fall in this trap.
And to do that, we need to talkabout where to take samples,
how to take samples, and how tohandle the samples afterwards.
So, first one, where to take samples.
We're talking here about Where inthe depth of the tank, not where

(01:32):
along its length, if you will.
Tanks tend to have a limited number ofaccess points at the top, so in most
situations, you'll probably have twochoices, but not much more than that.
But before we talk about whereto take them, let's consider how
that particular question playswith what we're trying to do here.

(01:53):
Now you're taking a sample becauseyou're either going to examine it
visually or you're going to submitit for more standardized lab testing,
like with the requirements ofany yearly testing protocol
that your company might have.
Where you take the sample can influencethose test results, potentially more in

(02:15):
a negative way than in a positive way.
Because remember, the ultimate objectis to take a sample that best represents
what the fuel in your tank is really like.
So that, any test results you getcan be more easily and accurately
applied to the rest of your fuel.
If you think about a storage tank,the fuel can be markedly different

(02:39):
in different parts of that tank.
That is why, where to takefuel samples in terms of depth,
is such a big consideration.
The bottom of the fuel tank is wheremost of the particulate and the microbial
contamination, that's where most ofthose things are concentrated as well
as that's where all the free water is.

(03:01):
And so that's also where allthe fuel water emulsions reside.
Those kinds of contaminants rarelyever make their way up to the middle
and the top of the fuel in that tank.
What would happen If you needed awater and sediment reading, or you
needed to take a sample to do that,but you pulled a sample from, let's
say, the top of your fuel and yousent that in for testing, very likely

(03:26):
it's going to come back pretty clean.
And so you're going to say,I don't have any water.
I don't have any sediment.
My fuel's fine.
But the reality is that all thewater and sediment in your tank is
all the way down at the bottom, butyou didn't sample at the bottom.
you sampled at the top.
So if you needed to get a better sense ofyour water and sediment content, what you

(03:46):
would need to do is pull a bottom sample.
Conversely, let's say that you tooka middle or top sample and they did
a water and sediment test on that.
But let's say that that testactually came back failing.
It came back in excess of 500 ppm.

(04:06):
Now you have a situation where there isactually value in there because the value
in that would be suddenly you really knowthat you have a problem because again,
those level of those kind of contaminantsshould be pretty low in those areas.
But if those samples come back asfailing, if you've got an excess
water and sediment, In fuel that'sin the middle or the top of the tank.

(04:29):
Now you realize you've got areally big problem that that
test just confirmed for you.
Still, even with the possibility ofthat kind of scenario, I wouldn't just
necessarily plan to do it that way.
So, in a moment, we're going to runthrough what top, middle, and bottom
actually mean in this context, interms of where in the tank that is,

(04:52):
you know, where in the fuel's depththat sample is being taken from.
But before we get into talking aboutthat, let's talk briefly about port.
You'd want to take that samplefrom where along the top that you
would want to take the sample.
Most above ground tanks, aswe said, have at least two.

(05:13):
They have a fill port,and they have a vent port.
Now if possible, you want to try andsample from the fill port, because
You're going to get fuel that's morelikely to be a real representative
sample of the fuel in your tank.
The vent port typically is not reallyintended to be used for sampling.
So, you're going to want totake it from the fill port.

(05:37):
Now, let's talk about what we meanby, Top, middle, bottom, depth.
A sample from the top ispretty straightforward.
That's a fuel sample frompretty much anywhere near the
fuel depth you want to pick.
Doesn't matter exactly.
A sample from the middle, however,doesn't necessarily mean true.

(05:58):
middle.
It actually means more like middlebottom, let's say a third of the way up.
Now, exactly how far down or upthis is going to be depends on the
depth of the fuel in your tank.
But let's say you have a 5000 gallontank that has a fuel depth of six feet.

(06:19):
A middle sample for thatwouldn't necessarily need
to come from exactly 3 feet.
You probably would want to do it somewherebetween 18 to 24 inches from the bottom,
and that would be a viable middle sample.
Similar to this, we need to talkabout what a bottom sample looks like.
Actually means and onething we need to make clear.

(06:41):
This is very important.
Bottom sample does not mean a dead bottomsample right at the very bottom because
right at the very bottom is where a lotof that sludge and that free water is.
And if you happen to sample fromthere, what's going to happen is
your sample is just going to get hugeamounts of sediment, and water in

(07:02):
your sample, and that kind of sampleis just not diagnostically useful.
So for a bottom sample, you'renot doing a dead bottom.
You actually want to do it anywhere fromthree to six inches from the bottom.
That's close enough to the actualbottom of the fuel that , it's down
near where that water and sediment is.

(07:24):
So you're gonna be able to do testingthat will give you an accurate
reflection of how much you got of that.
But the sample at the same time isnot going to pull in so much of that
that it throws off your results.
And so that's going to do it fortoday's Field Poll Show Back to School
Quick Dive into the sticky issueof How best to do fuel sampling.

(07:46):
Now, if you liked what you heardand you haven't done so already,
feel free to subscribe to us atyour podcast platform of choice.
Maybe that's iTunes, Stitcher,Amazon podcasts, wherever you
happen to like to listen, andif you haven't done so already.
Please leave us a review ifyou can, because that too
really helps people find us.
So until next time, I'm Eric Bjornstadthanking you for joining us, and I'll

(08:11):
see you next time at the next episodeof the Fuel Pulse Show podcast.