Fuel Polishing and Conditioning

Polishing should be Supplemental filtration and forms part of contamination control, maintaining target cleanliness levels within the system.

Filter carts should be used for

Periodic clean up


Pre-filtering fuel & oils in drums

Filling tanks and machines

Polishing is supplemental, ensure best practise is in place on stored Fuels and Oils to reduce induced contamination. Fuel/oil polishing should not be required if best practice and Induced contamination controls are implemented. Fuel polishing should be part of a controlled condition maintenance program, ensuring target levels of cleanliness are maintained.

Fuel Conditioning

Companies and people will have their own ideas of what conditioning is, and the procedures and requirements of a conditioning process, So let’s keep it basic.


Fuel and oil storage best practice are in place, Induced contamination reduction methods adopted, good fuel/oil husbandry and fuel testing regimes in place.

What is there to go wrong?

Everything has a shelf life and is also affected by how it is stored, the environment it is stored in and environmental changes. Let’s take a 45-gallon drum of say red diesel sat in an unsheltered open yard. Would the fuel be affected?

If we have a second 45-gallon drum of red diesel sat in a clean, dry, sheltered, stable temperature-controlled storage environment, would the effects on the fuel be any different?

We all know the answer is yes! and from that example we can see how storage, environment, and environmental impacts, will influence the fuel.

The fuel sat in the yard, may now show signs of degradation and contamination, but we will focus on degradation from oxidation, environmental impact. This degrades the fuel and would be reported by your fuel testing partner.

So, the process of conditioning fuel is to stabilise the fuel from degrading and rectify any issues found, this can be done by adding special chemical compounds to the fuel. Please always ensure any chemicals or additives are compatible with your equipment and test data is available on the product prior to use.

So even maintaining best practice and limiting Induced contamination, your fuel/oil can be affected by other parameters.