The US EPA has just released a report of the results of a series of 42 UST inspections that were performed in January and February 2015. Despite the tiny percentage of ULSD UST inspected and sampled, the report highlights the considerable disconnect between observed corrosion (83% of the systems inspected had moderate to severe corrosion) and corrosion awareness (only 25% of site owners were aware of corrosion issues. The report also does a nice job of listing the different ways in which…

The US EPA’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks has just published a clear and concise document on UST release (leak) detection (https://www.epa.gov/ust/release-detection-underground-storage-tanks-and-piping-straight-talk-tanks). Coincidently, in the past few days, my friend Walt Huysman posted a LinkedIn blog about predictive maintenance (PdM). What’s the connection? UST release detection effectively signals the need to take immediate corrective action. UST replacement and site…

How many of you recall the Bob Seeger song: Where have all the flowers gone? It seems that it might be time to modify the lyrics by replacing the word flowers with biocides approved for use in metalworking fluids (MWF). I admit, that’s a mouthful, but the reality is comparable to that behind the original song. The list of active substances for which Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) dossiers have been submitted includes a mere 27 actives intended for use in MWF. Less than 10 years ago, there…

If you will be attending the STLE Annual Meeting on 15 through 19 May 2016, be sure to join me at the Metalworking Fluids Technical Session III, in the Silver Room, Bally’s Las Vegas, NV. At 0830h, on Tuesday 17 May, I’ll be presenting my paper: “Adenosine Triphosphate Testing to Evaluate Biofilm Dispersants.” The paper discusses the use of LuminUltra Technologies Limited’s QGO-M and DSA test methods to compare the efficacy of a number of different formulations for removing biofilm from pipe…

For those of you who are interested in metalworking fluid microbiology and microbial contamination control, I invite you to read my March 2016 Tribology and Lubrication Transactions TLT) article: MWF Biocides Part II – Science vs. Fiction.
This was an accidental article that I was asked to write in response to an error-laden article that had appeared in TLT’s November issue. The earlier piece had been written by an individual whose familiarity with the topic was limited to the research…