Powered to Win · Runtime: approximately 15 minutes
In this episode of Powered to Win, Erik Duthie, Head of Operations at PowerChampions, talks with Scott Anderson, Product Manager for Power Generation at Semler Industries, about fuel management and its role in backup generator reliability.
From fuel transfer and filtration to biofuels and what the industry calls “fuel polishing,” Scott explains why fuel condition and the systems that support it can ultimately determine whether a diesel generator is ready when it is needed most.
Erik Duthie: Tell us a little bit about Semler Industries.
Scott Anderson: Semler Industries has been around for more than 120 years and is a third-generation family-owned company focused on liquid handling.
The company works across a variety of applications, from potable water systems at airports to printing inks and pharmaceutical chemicals. In the power-generation industry, our focus includes fuel systems and fuel-management systems.
We can support bulk fuel offloading as well as more localized applications, moving fuel at a wide range of flow rates. We also provide fuel filtration and polishing solutions.
For power generation specifically, my focus is essentially anything involved in receiving the fuel, moving it, filtering it, storing it to an extent, and even DEF applications associated with diesel-generator exhaust systems.
Erik: Have you always been in the fluid-handling business?
Scott: Interestingly, I started right out of high school working for a Standard Oil jobber, although I never thought I would end up back in the fuel industry.
I spent 18 years in the electrical industry with Ideal Industries and Eaton Corporation. After leaving Eaton, I went to work for one of my customers and became involved with fuel-handling systems.
From there, I moved into tank gauging and liquid-level measurement before joining Semler Industries.
For roughly the last 12 years, my work has been heavily involved in fuel handling.
Erik: You've been around the industry for a long time. What changes have you seen?
Scott: Major events such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy increased awareness around how important these systems are.
It was not necessarily that the equipment suddenly changed overnight. What changed was the recognition that emergency power systems — including the fuel systems supporting them — have to be maintained consistently.
It is more than performing preventive maintenance. Organizations also need to invest in the equipment required to maintain and support those systems properly.
Erik: In the diesel-generator world, what are some of the biggest challenges you're seeing around fuel?
Scott: One challenge is getting the proper equipment installed from the beginning.
Organizations are understandably looking at budgets and asking whether they can justify an investment in fuel filtration, transfer, or management equipment.
But the question becomes: when can you justify it? After you've already had a problem because the fuel wasn't properly filtered, polished, or transferred?
Another major challenge is people.
The power-generation industry has a tremendous amount of technical knowledge held by experienced professionals who are approaching retirement. We have not always done a great job of making these careers visible and appealing to the next generation.
That knowledge gap is something the entire industry needs to address.
Erik: That is one of the major issues we hear in the generator dealer and distributor community as well: where do you find technicians?
At PowerChampions, that is one of the reasons we are investing in the American Skilled Trades Academy. We are working to develop technicians rather than relying entirely on an already limited pool of experienced people.
Erik: We're also seeing more biodiesel. Does that change the way facilities should think about fuel management?
Scott: Biofuels can require some special handling compared with conventional diesel.
That doesn't mean traditional diesel fuel is without its own challenges, but biofuels introduce additional factors that need to be monitored and maintained.
This is particularly important in applications such as healthcare and data centers.
If a facility wants to take advantage of biofuels, it needs the right equipment and people who understand how those fuels behave within the system.
The fuel is moving through storage tanks, piping, pumps, filtration equipment, and ultimately the engine. The characteristics and condition of that fuel affect how the overall system performs.
Erik: Fuel polishing is something we talk about regularly at PowerChampions. We want customers to actually clean and filter the fuel rather than simply pumping it from one side of a tank to another. How do you define fuel polishing?
Scott: There is an important technical distinction.
In common industry terminology, people often use “fuel polishing” to describe a filtration process.
In those systems, we're generally trying to remove things that should not be in the fuel — water, solids, buildup, biological growth, and other material that can eventually make its way toward the engine.
A true polishing or conditioning process can go further by adding something back into the fuel when a particular property is lacking.
But most systems commonly referred to as fuel-polishing systems are primarily filtering and cleaning the fuel.
The important point is making sure the fuel reaching the engine is in a condition that allows the engine to operate properly.
You want to remove water, growth, and contaminants before they reach the engine-mounted filters.
If those filters become blocked, you can end up with an engine that cannot operate when you need it.
That may be the most important lesson from Erik and Scott's conversation. For a standby generator, fuel can sit in storage for long periods before being called upon during an emergency. That makes fuel management fundamentally different from applications where fuel is continually turned over. The generator can be well maintained. The batteries can be charged. You can test the automatic transfer switch, but if the engine cannot receive usable fuel when the outage occurs, none of those other preparations matter.
That is why fuel reliability should be viewed as part of the complete emergency power strategy. The goal is not simply to react when contaminated fuel causes a problem. It is to understand the fuel's condition, remove water and contaminants, maintain the supporting fuel-handling equipment, and identify potential issues before the generator is asked to carry the load.
For generator service companies and electrical contractors, that also creates an opportunity to educate customers about a part of their emergency power system they may rarely think about. Backup-power reliability is built long before the lights go out.
Diesel generators depend on clean, usable fuel reaching the engine when an outage occurs. Water, buildup, biological growth, and other contaminants can restrict filters and interfere with fuel delivery. Regular fuel-system maintenance helps identify and address those problems before the generator is called upon during an emergency.
In common generator-industry terminology, “fuel polishing” usually refers to circulating stored fuel through filtration equipment to remove water, contaminants, solids, and biological growth. Scott notes that technically, true fuel conditioning can also involve restoring properties that are missing from the fuel, but most systems described as fuel polishing are primarily filtration systems.
It can. Scott explains that biofuels introduce different characteristics that need monitoring and management. Facilities considering biofuel applications should ensure that their fuel-handling equipment and maintenance practices are appropriate for the fuel being used and that personnel understand those requirements.
Before there is a problem. One of Scott's primary points is that organizations sometimes struggle to justify investing in fuel-management equipment until they experience a failure. For critical power applications, the better approach is to build fuel quality and fuel-system maintenance into the reliability plan before an emergency occurs.
Modern emergency power systems require technicians who understand generators as complete systems — including fuel storage, transfer, filtration, controls, electrical systems, and other supporting components. As experienced professionals retire, developing the next generation of skilled technicians becomes increasingly important to maintaining reliable critical-power infrastructure.
Scott Anderson is Product Manager for Power Generation at Semler Industries. His career includes 18 years in the electrical industry with Ideal Industries and Eaton Corporation, followed by more than a decade working in fuel handling, tank gauging, liquid-level measurement, and power-generation fuel systems.
At Semler Industries, Scott focuses on the systems used to receive, transfer, filter, manage, and support fuel for diesel-generator applications.
Learn more about Semler Industries at semlerindustries.com.
Reliable backup power does not start when the utility fails. It starts with the work done every day to maintain the equipment, develop knowledgeable technicians, understand the complete emergency power system, and address potential weaknesses before they become failures.
Fuel is an essential part of that equation.
Watch this episode of Powered to Win with Erik Duthie and Scott Anderson to learn why fuel quality, filtration, maintenance, and the people responsible for those systems all play a role in making sure backup power is ready when it matters most.
Your Power. Our Mission.