Emulsified fuel reduces boiler maintenance and harmful emissions

8th June 2012

By: Sashnee Moodley

Senior Deputy Editor Polity and Multimedia

  

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An environment-friendly, emulsified fuel, called EM-fuel, supplied by environmental technology company Nano Bubble Technologies (NBT), is able to limit carbon build-up in boilers, reducing maintenance and harmful emissions, the company reports.

The low-cost EM-fuel is produced by combining petroleum-based products or plant oils with water and emulsified fuel additives.

The EM-fuel has the same consumption rate as paraffin or diesel and NBT also offers diesel and paraffin emulsions.

EM-fuel is an emulsion of 80% fuel and 20% water that creates a new fuel that surpasses the requirements of all US Environmental Protection Agency emission regulations, states NBT.

The product is stable for up to six months in normal temperature conditions.

Used in boilers, the EM-fuel limits carbon build-up in piping, as the fuel burns more efficiently and the combustion process also becomes more efficient.

NBT sales manager Karl Henriksen says, with continued use, the fuel also cleans away existing carbon build-up.

“Customers have found that, after three or four weeks of using the fuel, they use less fuel than normal, as the boilers are cleaned of the carbon build-up that suppresses heat efficiencies,” he explains.

Another benefit of using EM-fuel in boilers is improved pump lubrication. Lubrication adds between 2c/ and 8c/ℓ to companies’ fuel bills. With the EM-fuel, no added lubrication is needed.

Pumps are better lubricated and less heat and friction extend the life of the pumps.

“We try to save the client at least 5% on fuel consumption. If the client uses a fuel-mixing machine [supplied by] us, fuel savings can increase to as high as 20%. In some cases, we have also seen a 60% reduction in harmful emissions and particulate matter,” Henriksen says.

Further, he says the prevention of pilfering is a secondary benefit of using the EM-fuel, as the product is white and does not look like conventional fuel. He suggests that it would be hard to steal and resell, as the average person would not know the product is actually fuel.

NBT gives companies the opportunity to mix their own fuel on site.

“We supply machines, called EM30s, that mix and produce the EM-fuel for customers on site. One machine costs about R1-million but the customer only pays for every litre of fuel that is converted. We manufacture these machines at our depot in Cape Town,” reveals Henriksen.

The machines are able to produce 30 t of fuel in a 24-hour cycle.

The company’s Cape Town facility has the capacity to produce 500 000 of EM-fuel, which is then supplied to smaller companies.

NBT has five plants in operation on customers’ sites across South Africa and the company recently opened a branch in Johannesburg that produces and sells the fuel. The company is hoping to find ‘franchisers’ across the country.

NBT is currently in negotiations with numerous interested parties in various countries throughout Europe, Africa and the Pacific Islands. The company is also introducing this technology to countries in Eastern Europe, where the use of emulsion fuel in boilers and vehicles has been approved.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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