Diesel Fuel Tank Immersion Heaters for GeneratorsA designer of a generator manufacturer contacted Durex to provide a solution for diesel fuel heating. Due to colder climate installation, there was a possibility of the fuel viscosity dropping too low for proper pumping, fuel gelling, or of waxes forming in biodiesel and clogging lines and filters. Large Engine-Driven generators are often housed in enclosures and set on a base, which doubles as the Diesel Fuel Tank for the engine. These fuel tanks are often double-walled UL142 compliant that do not allow side penetrations, making it difficult to simply “insert a heater in the side of the tank.”The other issue was space limitation for the installation as well as interior obstructions and bulkheads in the tank and other structures in the enclosure. This created a challenge to properly configure an immersion heater assembly that could be installed in the tank, not obstruct other structures of the gen-set installation, be compliant to UL142 tank requirements, and provide proper heating and control for a Class 1 Division 2 Group C & D Location. After review of the power generator’s location and the tight space requirements, Durex' engineering team designed a spiral-wound, ‘L’ shaped tank immersion heater with built in temperature sensing to monitor both the diesel fluid temp a well as provide high temperature limit sensor monitoring of the heater element to prevent an overtemperature situation inside the tank. For tank installations with internal tank obstructions, a union-nipple arrangement was provided in order to secure the heater to the tank without needing to “spin” the heater around as it is being threaded into the mating tank fitting.
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