Gear Pump for Fuel

Each fuel reaches the pump with a different viscosity, volatility and contaminant load. Diesel oil in Brazil follows ANP Resolution No. 968, which defines three types: diesel A, made of hydrocarbons produced from petroleum derivatives or other non-renewable feedstocks; diesel C, from processes such as co-processing that use renewable and non-renewable feedstocks together; and diesel B, which is A, C or a mix of them with biodiesel added under the terms set by the CNPE, Brazil's national energy policy council. S10 and S500 indicate the maximum sulphur content, 10 and 500 mg/kg. Neat biodiesel follows ANP Resolution No. 920. Renewable (green) diesel is a set of hydrocarbons produced by different technological routes, according to the ANP technical note. Industrial fuel oil is based on vacuum distillation residue, with diluents (Petrobras). Gasoline and kerosene have no figures in this guide: the data come from the technical data sheet and the safety data sheet (SDS) of the product actually received. For all of them, selection starts with viscosity at pumping temperature, flash point, and the water and sediment the product carries.

• Diesel A and B (S10 or S500) and C (S10): viscosity of 2.0 to 4.5 mm²/s at 40 °C and minimum flash point of 38 °C (ANP Resolution No. 968, Table 1).
• B100 biodiesel: viscosity of 3.0 to 5.0 mm²/s at 40 °C and minimum flash point of 100 °C (ANP Resolution No. 920).
• Renewable diesel: hydrocarbons, without the ester chemistry of biodiesel.
• Gasoline and kerosene: the 2026 FBE catalogue lists them among the products pumped in refineries and gives the series viscosity range from 30 SSU (p.3); viscosity and flash point come from the data sheet, and below 30 SSU the application is confirmed with FB.
• Fuel oil: types OCA1, OCA2, OCB1 and OCB2, historically classified by viscosity at 60 °C and sulphur; BPF and APF are the informal classification by pour point (Petrobras).

The FBE speed table is in SSU, while the ANP resolutions give viscosity in mm²/s, the same as cSt, at 40 °C. The conversion table in the 2026 FBE catalogue (p.5) gives the points: 32 SSU correspond to 1.82 cSt, 35 SSU to 2.71 cSt, 40 SSU to 4.25 cSt and 50 SSU to 7.68 cSt. Interpolating between them, the diesel range of 2.0 to 4.5 cSt is about 33 to 41 SSU, and the biodiesel range of 3.0 to 5.0 cSt is about 36 to 42 SSU. The formula SSU = cSt × 4.635 in the same catalogue only applies above 300 SSU and does not suit light fuels. Both fall on the first row of the table, 30 to 250 SSU, which provides 1,750 rpm with direct drive for FBE 1/8″ to 1″D. The table lists no sizes above 1″D on that row: they appear from the 250 to 2,500 SSU row onward, at 1,150 rpm, up to 5″. For a larger FBE on diesel, speed is set during selection, from flow, pressure and suction, not from the fuel's name. With fuel oil, viscosity at suction temperature decides the row, and cold oil can fall into the range that calls for a pulley or reducer.

• Diesel (ANP Resolution No. 968): 2.0 to 4.5 cSt at 40 °C, about 33 to 41 SSU.
• Biodiesel (ANP Resolution No. 920): 3.0 to 5.0 cSt at 40 °C, about 36 to 42 SSU.
• 30 to 250 SSU: 1,750 rpm, direct, FBE 1/8″ to 1″D (2026 FBE catalogue, p.5).
• 250 to 2,500 SSU: 1,150 rpm, direct, FBE 1/8″ to 5″.
• 2,500 to 7,500 SSU: 850 rpm, direct, FBE 1/2″ to 6″.
• Above 7,500 SSU: 700 to 150 rpm, with pulley or reducer, FBE from 1.1/2″ upward.

NR-20 separates liquids by flash point. A flammable liquid has a flash point up to 60 °C (item 20.3.1), and a combustible liquid has a flash point above 60 °C and up to 93 °C (item 20.3.3). Resolution No. 968 only sets a 38 °C minimum for diesel, which can therefore fall below 60 °C; the value comes from the SDS and from the quality certificate or conformity report of the product received. A liquid with a flash point above 60 °C that is stored and transferred heated to a temperature equal to or above its flash point is also treated as flammable (item 20.3.1.1). For installations in classes I, II and III, the standard requires the design to identify hazardous areas in order to specify electrical equipment and installations (item 20.5.2(f)). In transfer and in filling containers or tanks, measures against vapours and static electricity are also defined in the design (item 20.5.6), and electrical equipment in hazardous areas must meet NR-10 (item 20.13.1). In Brazil, electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres is subject to mandatory certification under Inmetro Ordinance No. 115, including imported equipment with international certification, and ATEX is not automatic Brazilian approval. The hazardous area comes from the installation design, not from the name of the fuel.

• Motor and other electrical components: Inmetro certification for the hazardous area defined in the design.
• Coupling guard: carbon steel or non-sparking material (MTEC-01/01, p.7).
• Drive: electric motor or combustion engine (MTEC-01/01, p.7); the combustion engine is not in the 2026 catalogue (p.4) and is confirmed in the quotation.
• Static electricity: control required by NR-20 (item 20.13.2). Resolution No. 968 requires producers, importers and distributors to guarantee a minimum electrical conductivity of 25 pS/m at the time and temperature of loading or pumping (art. 20).

The 2026 FBE catalogue (p.3) offers packing, mechanical seal or lip seal. The manual's standard mechanical seal is type 21, in ceramic × graphite × Viton, with an AISI 304 stainless spring (MTEC-01/01, item 2.5). Sealing is selected according to the fluid (MTEC-01/01, p.1), and NR-20 counts releases from pump seals and packings as fugitive emissions. The manual also describes the magnetic coupling for when no leakage is allowed, including with explosive fluids (item 2.7); the 2026 catalogue does not list it among the options, and availability is confirmed in the quotation. Flush and quench connections are provided only according to the application and the customer's request (Table 17). Casing and covers can be ASTM A48 CL30 cast iron, ASTM A536 60-40-18 ductile iron, ASTM A216 WCB carbon steel or ASTM A743 CF8M stainless steel, and shafts and gears SAE 1045 steel or AISI 316L stainless steel (2026 FBE catalogue, p.3). None of them is the default for a given fuel name: the choice follows the product, water, temperature and pressure. The drive can be direct to an electric motor or to a gear motor, with a flexible coupling on a metal baseplate (catalogue, p.4). The manual also provides for a combustion engine, a coupling with or without spacer and a baseplate in welded structural steel or U-channel (p.7); the combustion engine is not in the 2026 catalogue and is confirmed in the quotation. The internal relief valve, in brass or AISI 304 stainless steel, is a catalogue accessory.

Resolution No. 968 limits water in diesel to 200 mg/kg for types A and C and to 250 mg/kg for type B, and total contamination to 24 mg/kg (Table 1). ANP-authorised agents that sell or handle diesel A, B or C must drain tank bottoms at least once a week; at retail fuel stations, draining may be every fifteen days, with daily measurement of the water level (art. 21, § 1). The ANP guidance on draining explains why: biodiesel tends to absorb water, and, once blended with diesel A, that water can separate as free water and encourage the growth of bacteria and fungi, rising acidity and deposit formation. Biodiesel can also remove residues deposited in tanks. Together, these factors raise the risk of clogged filters and corrosion, and the ANP lists piping and pump maintenance among the costs that draining can help retail stations reduce. For fuel oil, Petrobras links water to corrosion and emulsions, and sediment to deposits that block injector nozzles and cause erosion. Alumino-silicates, in high amounts, are abrasive to pumps and engines, which is why the oil must be treated in centrifuges before use. For the FBE, the MTEC-01/01 manual requires consulting FB when the fluid carries suspended solids (item 2.3). State the water content, known solids and planned line filtration in the enquiry.

Industrial fuel oil is used to generate heat in furnaces, boilers and thermal power plants. According to Petrobras, the types have historically been classified by kinematic viscosity at 60 °C, in increasing order, and by sulphur content (A, high sulphur, below 2.0% by mass; B, low sulphur, below 1.0%); by pour point, an informal classification separates BPF, the Brazilian name for low pour point fuel oil, from APF, the high pour point grade. Only BPF oils can be carried by pipeline and stored in tanks without heating. Petrobras also stresses keeping the oil heated and homogenised in the tank to help it flow, and reheating it to the viscosity required by the burner. Because viscosity varies inversely with temperature, the FBE table row depends on the actual temperature at suction, at startup and in steady operation. The heating chamber exists from FBE 1.1/2″ to 6″ (MTEC-01/01), and the 2026 FBE catalogue lists it among the accessories (p.3). When heating, compare the pumping temperature with the flash point on the data sheet, because NR-20 treats as flammable a liquid stored and transferred heated to a temperature equal to or above its flash point (item 20.3.1.1). A low flash point can also indicate contamination with lighter fractions (Petrobras).

• Oil type (OCA1, OCA2, OCB1, OCB2 or other) and the supplier's viscosity–temperature data.
• Temperatures in storage, at pump suction, at startup and in steady operation.
• Flash point and pour point from the data sheet.
• Available heating medium, with its temperature and pressure.
• Filtration or centrifuging planned in the circuit.

Biodiesel is made of alkyl esters of long-chain carboxylic acids, produced by transesterification or esterification of fatty materials of plant or animal origin (ANP Resolution No. 920, art. 3, V). The same resolution requires a minimum ester content of 96.5% by mass, viscosity of 3.0 to 5.0 mm²/s at 40 °C, density of 850 to 900 kg/m³ at 20 °C, water up to 200 mg/kg and a minimum flash point of 100 °C. Diesel B, which contains biodiesel, follows Resolution No. 968, and the biodiesel added to it must meet No. 920 (art. 3, § 2). Renewable diesel is a set of hydrocarbons produced by different technological routes; HVO, from hydrotreating vegetable and animal oil, is one of them (ANP technical note). It does not have the ester chemistry of biodiesel, and data for one do not carry over to the other. For both, the casing, bushing and seal elastomer materials are defined from the composition, additives, water and temperature of the actual product. The 2026 FBE catalogue does not list biodiesel among its applications, and this guide does not approve a single material or elastomer for every biodiesel.

FB manufactures the FBE series in Cabreúva, Brazil, and the MTEC-01/01 manual and the 2026 FBE catalogue are in the site's technical library. The manual covers the FBE from 1/8″ to 6″, with flows up to 390 m³/h; the 2026 catalogue also lists the FBE 10″ (p.6). The catalogue gives BSP threaded ports from 1/8″ to 1″ and ANSI B16.5 150 lb flanges from 1.1/2″ upward (p.6). Several FBE models are kept in stock, and the availability of each is given in the quotation. At a terminal, fuel depot or plant, describe the duty: tanker truck unloading, tank-to-tank transfer, recirculation or burner feed. To replace an installed pump, send the nameplate, drawings and the baseplate and connection dimensions, because brand or port size alone does not establish equivalence. FB's credentials page shows its Petrobras supplier registration (CRC, formerly CRCC); confirm the scope the procurement requires, because supplier registration is not pump certification. The proposal identifies model, speed, materials, sealing, drive, accessories and included documentation.

• Product: name, data sheet and SDS; for diesel, the type (A, B or C) and whether it is S10 or S500.
• Viscosity with its measuring temperature, and the pumping, minimum and maximum temperatures.
• Flow or transfer time, discharge pressure and suction conditions, with piping and filters.
• Water, sediment and known suspended solids.
• The design's hazardous area and the documentation required.
• For fuel oil, the available heating.