Attachment 6 - DLA ENERGY FUEL INVESTIGATION SCENARIO.pdf

Attachment: DLA ENERGY FUEL INVESTIGATION SCENARIO

Examination of Diesel Fuels and Insoluble Gums In Retain Samples.

Objectives

1) Determine if the gums observed in glass bottle retain samples from DFSP Bay Ridge and USNS Clipper ship contain constituents that are a) not characteristic of diesel fuel adherent gums and/or

b) the result of unexpected interactions between approved additives and other normally found constituents in Naval distillate (to include downgraded jet fuel).

2) Determine any abnormal and foreign objects in the filter pads and sediments collected during the investigation.

3) Determine if there are any compositional artifacts in the retain fuel samples that produced high gums and/or particulates that are unique to those fuel samples that could be correlated to the reported poor storage stability issues in the fleet.

Background

There have been a number of incidents where significant amounts of gum have been observed in the bottoms of glass bottles used to store retain samples that appears after 6 weeks of storage. A cursory survey conducted by command center showed out of a random sampling of 50 retain fuels, 40 had visible gum in the bottoms. No pattern has emerged yet, but it is common opinion that it is not normal for diesel fuels to produce these levels of gums and sediment in storage under controlled temperatures.

In addition, one sample of a line retain sample during the refueling of USNS Clipper Ship tested after 6 weeks of storage was reported to have 35 mg/L particulates. When the sample was originally taken, the fuel was clear and bright. This proposed test plan is intended to determine if there are any compositional artifacts that can be identified as a probable cause of the observed gum formation.

Experimental Approach

Fuel samples associated with high insoluble/particulates will be compared to stable fuel samples. Gum samples will be extracted from retain glass containers and characterized. If the gum can be dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, they will be analyzed by GC-MS and GCxGC-MS. If the gums cannot be dissolved other methods will be used. The goal of these laboratory tests is to detect and characterize atypical constituents in the fuels and gums that may be correlated with the unstable fuels. The purpose of looking at USNS Clipper Ship samples are to see what differences there are in these fuels since in theory all product originated from the same tank at DFSP Inlet Point.

Test Samples

DFSP Cambridge, DFSP Bay Ridge, and DFSP Inlet Point are reporting rings in retain samples between 1 month and 6 months in age. These three DFSPs are all supplied by Quick Oil refinery. This fuel meets MIL-DTL-16884 rev P requirements, with a waiver for the addition of cetane improver (CeProv max 2259 ppm) and lubricity improver (LuProv @ 269 ppm max – this lubricity improver contains static dissipater additive). A minimum sample volume of 400 mL, preferably 600 mL per sample, is required.

The fuel sample volume may or may not be adequate for all the testing listed below. Sample labels shall identify the date the sample was taken, location of sample, and type of sample (in-line, bottom, all-level, etc.). The following list of samples shall be collected for testing and provided to the contractor:

Baseline Sample

• One retain sample from Quick Oil shipment. (1 Liter)

DFSP Bay Ridge

• One retain sample with a ring visible in the bottom of the bottle (2 bottles, 1 testing Sample) USNS Clipper Ship

• Tank 4 sample (1 Liter)

• Three Millipore Filter Pads which used for filtering Naval distillate

• One 100 mL bottle of sediments found during the Clipper Ship fuel tank cleaning

Schedule: Please provide a timeline for testing to be completed.

Reporting: Interim test results will be reported when available. A final report will be submitted at the conclusion of all tests.