On the Ground with Diesel Corrosion - Case Study

When the EPA revealed the results of its study in July on the increasing presence of substantial corrosion in diesel fuel tanks, it proved that the problem is much larger than anyone anticipated. The facts are staggering: 83%of the diesel tank systems exhibited moderate-to-severe corrosion. 75%of the owner/operators of those diesel tanks had no idea it was happening. The corrosion is developing in both steel and fiberglass tank systems. Even more staggering is the severity of the corrosion I have been an engineer in the petroleum industry for my entire career, first with Exxon and for the last 23 years, with Tanknology. I have never in my life seen corrosion of this magnitude in a fueling system. The fact it was found in moderate-to-severe states in 83% of the systems points to a major industry problem. Tanknology partnered with Battelle and performed all the fieldwork for this EPA study, which the agency termed the “largest field research of this issue to date.”

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