Does your commercial facility rely on a diesel-fueled generator for either primary power or emergency backup power? It’s very common to find these types of generators hooked up to hospitals, school buildings, and even power plants.
If you own or operate a building that has a diesel-fueled generator, it’ll be important to put the necessary generator maintenance steps into place. Generator care will make your generator last longer and run more efficiently.
It’ll also be important to make sure you always have enough generator fuel on hand for your diesel-fueled generator. This will mean finding the best way to go about storing your generator fuel. It’ll guarantee you always have enough diesel fuel around.
Are you trying to figure out the right approach to take to store fuel for your diesel-fueled generator? Take a look at our guide below to get some tips on how to store fuel for a generator properly.
Choose the Right Size Tank for Generator Fuel
In order to store diesel fuel for a generator, you’re going to need to obtain a large tank designed to hold it. But before buying one, you should know that “large” is going to have many meanings in this context.
There will be some generator fuel tanks that’ll be much bigger than others. You should strive to secure a tank that’s going to be big enough to house diesel fuel for your specific commercial facility.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to get your hands on a fuel tank that can hold enough fuel to last for 48 hours in an emergency situation. It’ll ensure your tank doesn’t ever run out of fuel when you need it most.
Determine Where to Put a Generator Fuel Tank
Once you know how big you’d like a generator fuel tank to be, the next thing you’ll need to do is decide where to put it. You’ll have quite a few options in this regard.
Some commercial facilities will bury gigantic fuel tanks on their properties. Others will have them installed above ground just outside their facilities.
There are also some facilities that are able to get away with storing generator fuel tanks inside in special fire-rated rooms. You should think about which option will work best for your facility and go with it.
Arrange to Have a Generator Fuel Tank Installed
After you know where you’d like to house a generator fuel tank, you can go ahead and have it installed. This is not going to be a job that you’ll ever want to take on yourself.
Installing a fuel tank can obviously be very complicated. It could also potentially be dangerous if you don’t hire the right company to put it into place for you.
There are companies that’ll be able to step in and handle the installation of generator fuel tanks from beginning to end. They can see to it that your facility’s tank is installed in the proper place in the safest way possible.
Decide How to Vent a Generator Fuel Tank
When you go to fill up a generator fuel tank with diesel fuel, pressure will build up inside it. This pressure isn’t going to have anywhere to go if you don’t figure out a good way to vent your tank.
It’s why you will need to work with the company installing your fuel tank for you to come up with a good venting solution. This solution should be able to stop pressure from building up inside your tank every time you need to have it filled up.
It’ll also need to vent your fuel tank without putting those who might be situated near your tank from being put into harm’s way. The company installing your tank for you should be well-versed in the art of venting these types of large generator fuel tanks.
Consider Putting a Day Tank for Generator Fuel in Place
More often than not, you’ll need to have a day tank installed for a diesel-powered generator. This day tank will be separate from the larger generator storage tank that you use to keep fuel.
So, what role does a day tank play? Well, it’s going to contain enough fuel for your generator to use on a daily basis. It’ll make it easier for your generator to get access to this fuel without having to pump it all the way out of your larger tank.
Just like with a big generator fuel tank, you’ll need to find the proper place to put a day tank. You’ll also need to connect it to both your main tank and your generator so that it’s all ready to go when the time comes.
Fill a Generator Fuel Tank With Diesel Fuel
When you get to this point, you’ll almost be ready to start using your generator for primary or backup power for your commercial facility. But to do this, you’ll need to have your main generator fuel tank filled up with diesel fuel.
As long as you’ve taken the rest of the steps listed here, you should be able to fill up your fuel tank without running into any problems. But you should have the company that installed the tank on hand to help you fill up your tank for the first time so that they can assess any potential problems that might pop up.
They’ll also be able to keep a close eye on both your generator and your generator fuel tank when it’s running to make sure everything works the way it should. They can then sign off on the job they did and step back and let you enjoy your generator and the tank that houses all the diesel fuel for it.
Figure Out When to Refill a Generator Fuel Tank
Choosing the right size tank for generator fuel is imperative because it’ll prevent you from having to refill this tank all the time. But there will, of course, come a point when you’ll need to arrange to have your tank refilled.
When this time comes, you should have a qualified generator refueling service on standby ready to assist you. The company you choose to work with should have all the following qualities:
- Experienced when it comes to filling fuel tanks
- Reliable as far as refilling fuel tanks is concerned
- Affordable with regard to the prices they charge for refilling fuel tanks
The generator refueling service you count on should also be able to answer any and all questions you may have about fuel storage. They’ll be able to put your mind at ease so that you don’t have to worry one bit about how you’ll store diesel fuel for your facility’s generator safely.
Perform Routine Inspections on a Generator Fuel Tank
By working with reputable companies when you install a generator fuel tank and fill it up, you’ll be able to rest easier at night. You won’t have to be overly concerned about anything going wrong with your generator or the tank that holds fuel for it.
But even still, you shouldn’t be shy about having routine inspections performed on your generator and your tank. It’ll help you see to it that your generator is always getting the fuel it needs.
You should be able to bring the company that installed your tank back on board to inspect it every so often. They can run tests on it to make sure it’s getting the fuel your generator needs to it quickly.
Over the years, they’ll also be able to help you make repairs to your fuel tank and eventually replace it once it’s worn out its welcome. You won’t need to do that for a long, long time. But it’ll be nice knowing that you have a company you can trust to handle all your generator tank installation needs in the future.
You’ll also be able to avoid situations in which your generator stops working due to a lack of fuel. It’ll be one less thing you’ll need to worry about while running your facility.
Start Storing Generator Fuel in the Proper Way
You can hook up the best generator in the business to your commercial facility. But if it doesn’t have enough fuel, it won’t do you much good.
For this reason, you should schedule generator fuel tank installation after putting a generator into place. You should also touch base with a generator refueling service early and often to have diesel fuel sent in your direction.
Find more tips that’ll help you run your business more efficiently by reading through some of our other blog articles.
