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More Fuel Quality Solutions

Our mission is to keep you operating in compliance and with maximum profitability. We have a variety of solutions for nearly every fuel or product quality issue refiners or terminal operators might face. These solutions can help you quickly and effectively bring off-grade tanks and cargoes back on specification, upgrade intermediate streams, and improve the profitability of your finished blends.

Fuel Dehazers

Under normal circumstances, refined fuels do not form emulsions with water. However, when fuel comes in contact with water containing organic salts, rust or products of microbial metabolism, fuel-water emulsions can form. The result is cloudy or hazy fuel that cannot be shipped on a product pipeline or sold in the commercial marketplace.

Fuel dehazers produce clear fuel by aiding in coalescing small water droplets suspended in fuel into larger drops that precipitate from fuel. Dehazers can also break apart an oil film that may be holding water in suspension in the fuel. The water released from the oil film then precipitates producing clear and bright fuel. Nalco Water offers several dehazers for application in gasoline, diesel and their blendstocks.

Dewaxing Aids

Removing wax from a refined lubricant fraction is one of the final steps in producing oils for lubricating engines, hydraulic systems and a range of industrial equipment. The dewaxing process effectively removes paraffinic wax from the oil. This process involves:

  • Mixing the oil in a solvent
  • Chilling or refrigerating the oil-solvent mixture
  • Allowing time for large wax crystals to form
  • Filtering the oil to separate the crystallized wax from the liquid lubricating oil and solvent

Our dewaxing aids enhance the ability of wax crystals to separate from oil and form into compact, oil-free, crystal structures. The result is less oil in wax and an increase in the yield of wax-free oil. Lubricant dewaxing aids for use in both general purpose and incidental food contact dewaxing applications are available. 

Diesel fuel stabilizer

After refining and blending, distillate fuels such as diesel fuel and heating oil are distributed and stored prior to use. If fuel is blended with unstable components such as non-hydroprocessed LCO or coker distillate, the fuel may rapidly change color or form dark, insoluble deposits in storage. A similar change in fuel can occur when it is stored for extended periods of time in tanks or in equipment. Deposit accumulation may result in fuel filter plugging, fuel pump sticking or fuel injector fouling.

Nalco Water stabilizers help maintain fuel quality over extended periods. Adding a stabilizer to distillate fuel during blending or as soon as possible after production can help maintain fuel color and prevent deposit formation in stored fuel. 

Fuel antioxidants

Over time, oxygen will react with fuel components to degrade the fuel into a viscous, sludge-like mass. Fuel components most susceptible to oxidation are olefins and alicyclic naphthenes. Paraffins and aromatics are less susceptible to attack but can eventually be consumed by the free-radical chain reaction process.

Hindered phenol and phenylenediamine (PDA) compounds are most commonly used and quite effective at preventing free-radical oxidative degradation of fuel. In-line injection or immediate application of antioxidant into fuel before the fuel comes in contact with air is the best practice. This type of application helps ensure the highest level of antioxidant performance. Our full line of Nalco Water antioxidants are suitable for nearly any application. Antioxidants can be used in gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene and certain distillates and lubricants. 

Cetane Improver

The ability of diesel fuel to combust and burn efficiently in a diesel engine is directly influenced by the cetane number of the fuel. Dark exhaust smoke, exhaust odor and rough running are signs of an engine operating on low cetane number, poor quality diesel fuel.

The Nalco Water octylnitrate cetane improver increases the cetane number of diesel fuel, enabling the fuel to readily ignite in the combustion chamber upon injection. Eliminating delay in fuel combustion enables diesel fuel to burn more completely, resulting in improved engine operation.

Lubricant Additives

We offer a wide range of specialized lubricant additives used in industrial oil demulsification, lubricating grease corrosion prevention, specialized wax modification and secondary antioxidant performance.