Aqua-Zorb UK Ltd, a UK based manufacturing company, has recently begun to expand into Europe through their distributor Top Filtration Europe. The company has developed a product which helps to eliminate the age old problem of free water contamination in fuel tanks. It consists of an inert, non toxic chemical contained within a cell made from a specially coated material. The cell absorbs free water from fuel and holds it there. The cell can then be easily removed along with the water using its retrieval line.
The problems caused by water in fuel are well known in many industries and it is arguably the most damaging contaminant to be found in any fuel tank. It can cause many other contamination problems of varying degrees. It can be caused by condensation, poor quality fuel delivery and transfer process and leaking tanks. With larger volumes of free water, microbial growth can be rapid encouraging the growth of algae, fuel bugs and other contaminants which can cause significant damage to an engine. Diesel powered equipment, generators and emergency standby pumps etc rely on having pure, clean diesel fuel in the tank. The ultra-fine tolerances of today’s super efficient diesel engines mean they are extremely sensitive to any fuel contamination or fuel quality problems. Some of the most powerful engines and generator systems have been brought to a standstill by something as simple as bacteria.
Poor quality fuel can create filter blockage, engine failure and damage to engine components. Water can wreak havoc on fuel pumps and injector systems. A recent testimonial was received from a major fuel company, Wessex Petroleum, who were having problems with free water contamination in some of their customer’s fuel tanks. The tanks were at marinas and were therefore exposed to water ingress and were difficult to access. The company feedback was that the cells were quick and easy to install, thus eliminating the need for specialist access to the tanks and they were effective at removing all the water in the tanks . The cells therefore saved a huge amount of cost in terms of arranging and carrying out manned entry tank cleaning and increased safety of their engineers by completely removing the need to enter the tanks.
Further feedback from various companies showed that the Aqua-Zorb water free cells were proving to be a very popular, low cost preventative maintenance product. Additional feedback from Volvo UK Construction was also very positive in highlighting the fact that, even with water separators fitted to the storage tanks, the problem of free water was so great that the separators alone could not handle it. After the introduction of our water free cell, the problem was resolved and the water was removed from the tanks.
The Aqua-Zorb water free cells, along with some of today’s modern additives and maintenance products, can go a long way to improving and keeping fuel clean and efficient. Removing free water can help to eliminate the growth of algae and fuel bug in all kinds of above and below ground fuel storage tanks.
The cells were tested in five different types of fuel all of which suffer from similar problems in storage. They included diesel, petrol, paraffin and aviation fuels. The tests were performed by independent laboratories, the results of which were excellent and can be viewed on our website or in our brochure. The cells were highly efficient at removing water from all of these fuels.
The product was sent to agricultural laboratories to be tested for disposal. This was done by one of the highest bodies in the UK and, if the instructions are adhered to, the product can be disposed of safely, without any environmental issues, in the domestic waste.
The company currently has five distributors, four in the UK and one overseas, all of whom have a vast amount of knowledge and expertise in the filtration industry. We are currently looking for filtration companies and tank cleaning companies to take this product forward and offer it to all kinds of industries as a low cost maintenance tool, which, in turn could help save many thousands of pounds.
Many forward thinking companies are of the opinion that prevention is far better than cure and that the implementation of an effective, low cost maintenance tool is much better than having to deal with long term consequences of water contamination.
