Mould, a form of fungus, yeasts and bacteria can grow in fuel over time. Termed ‘microbiological contamination’, this threat is greater now as the global pandemic has created a reduction in fuel turnover. As fuel is stored and backed up in the supply chain for longer, road haulage and commercial forecourt operations need to take extra care to keep this contamination in check.
While consuming mouldy bread may not be an appealing option, it will not actually do you any harm. Microbiological contamination in fuel supplies, on the other hand, has much more serious consequences on fuel systems and storage tanks.
As microbes multiply in the fuel, they can form a biomass layer consisting of billions of organisms. This biomass can block filters, increase injector wear, and even corrode tanks with the organic acid it produces.
Worst of all, microbiological contamination can be passed along the fuel supply chain, whether from pipeline to storage tank or fuelling truck to retail forecourt. This means that even if a depot is experiencing high fuel turnover, delivering food, Amazon boxes or other supplies, the overall slump in global fuel consumption across all modes of transport means contamination from the fuel supply chain could still be an issue.
Read more: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU2107/S00140/is-your-fuel-bugged.htm