Hydrocarbon Utilizing Micro-organisms (HUM bugs)

Overview: At least 27 bug species of bugs eat hydrocarbon (petroleum) products, - Species of bacteria, fungus and yeast. Some call them algae, no algae occurs in hydrocarbon products - just HUM bugs.

Carried by air and in water - HUM bug spores enter fuel supplies through vents and filling ports at any point in the supply chain.

Once in a fuel supply they exist virtually undetected and wait for the right conditions for growth they can double their numbers every 20 minutes - It doesn't take long for HUM bugs to dominate the entire fuel system.

They create slime or thick microbial matting that blocks fuel filters, injectors and turns the fuel acidic. HUM bugs adhere to metal surfaces and cause - Biologically Induced Corrosion (BIC).

To eliminate diesel bugs from the system and repair the damage done often requires much expense and time.

Twenty-seven (27) individual species of bugs can occur in diesel fuel:

Bacteria utilise hydrocarbons and reproduce 'asexually' by binary fission; swelling in size as they feed, they then separate into two cells. In this way microbes double their numbers every 20 minutes, one spore becomes 262,144 in 6 hours. Typical bacteria known to utilise hydrocarbons are Pseudomonas aeruginosa, other Pseudomonas species, Flavobacterium spp., Acinetobacter spp., Alcaligenes spp., Micrococcus spp., Arthobacter spp., Corynebacterium spp., Brevibacterium spp., Klebsiella app.


Yeast bud onto the parent cell, then eventually separate. Reproduction takes several hours and yeast prefer acidy environments. Typical yeasts growing on hydrocarbons are Candida spp., Saccharomyces spp., Torula spp., Torulopsis spp., Hansenula spp.


Fungus grow in the form of branched hyphae, a few microns in diameter, forming thick, tough, intertwined mycelial mats at fuel/water interfaces. Typical moulds which degrade hydrocarbons are Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp., Monilia spp., Botrytis spp, Cunninghammella spp., Scopulariopsis spp., Cladisporium resinae, Hormonicus resinae.


Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) are a specific group of bacteria utilizing simple carbon, not hydrocarbons, and require the activity of other microbes in a consortium. SRB produce hydrogen sulphide. SRB are also directly involved with many microbial corrosion reactions and can cause sulphide souring of stored distillate products.

Bugs feed on diesel, kerosene, oils causing them to decompose - that is why the very bugs that contaminate fuel systems are used to clean up Oil spills - Exxon Valdez

It is quite normal to have a small resident bug population in diesel tanks. These resident bug populations are small and have no measurable effect on the quality of the fuel.

However within the right temperature range and in the presence of any free moisture, the bugs begin reproducing rapidly causing an exponential growth in population.

Doubling their number every 20 minutes, bugs form microbial mats or long strings of seaweed like structures. Bug colonies can develop into a biomass several centimetres thick across the fuel/water interface and weigh up to 10Kg. Producing slime and acid as 'waste products' that are carried throughout the fuel system causing many maintenance problems.

Restricted fuel flow, uneven atomization and incomplete combustion caused by slime build up in the fuel lines, filters and injector needles.

Cylinders develop cool spots causing uneven wear to the rings and cylinder bores. Acids and gums can eventually leach into the lubricating oil, causing corrosion of the crank components.

Some species create acids that remove ions from the atomic structure of metals: this is the main cause of corrosion in fuel tanks, lines, pumps and injectors.

The presence of bugs in fuel has a definite effect on the quality of diesel and are responsible for increasing operating costs.

Increase fuel burn
Increase maintenance required on filters, fuel pumps and injectors
Increase exhaust smoke
Increase equipment running costs
Decrease power
Decrease reliability
Decrease service life of all fuel system components
Biocides have been widely used to kill bugs in diesel but have - limited to no effect over time.

Biocides

Biocides are a poison that is added to the fuel in the tanks, on the first few doses they kill much of the bug population, however, the dead population drops to the bottom of the tanks and forms sludge.

Also small groups of bugs survive under the protection of the slime (they produce). Then given the right conditions again and the bug population quickly regenerates, requiring more biocides. This repetitive process increases sludge in the tanks, which has to be removed to ensure safe operation of the engine.
This last part is relevant to Startron and it's claims to lyse the bio film.

link

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1999 E300DT (131,800) 154,000 Black on Black SOLD

2006 CLK 500 coupe Capri Blue on Grey (zoom,zoom)
47,000mi

04 VW TDI Passat 80,000mi
(Techno)

How to eliminate oil dependency through market-driven approaches.
“We could cut oil use in half by 2025, and by 2040, oil use could be zero,”
The Sound of Diesel Speed
Ode to MB

Uh, ok.

Basically, don't let your car sit for a while with fuel in it, otherwise you'll have to spend time/money cleaning out your tank/lines/filters.

Wouldn't this have been better posted on the thread that initiated you to post this fact dump?

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon