Polymer Dehydration Unit

What it removes

Light fuels and low-viscosity oils hold water in a different way from heavy lube oil, and this unit is built for that. It removes free water and dissolved water from aviation kerosene, diesel, light fuel oil and low-viscosity lubricating oils down to below 30 ppm, together with the particulate the fuel carries. At that water level a light fuel stops clouding at low ambient temperature and stops supporting the microbial growth that turns a fuel system into a corrosion problem.

How it works

The unit uses a polymer dehydration stage rather than heat alone. Water in a light hydrocarbon is not easily boiled out without also driving off the light ends, so the water is taken up by a polymer medium and the fuel passes through without its volatility being disturbed. That is the reason for a separate product rather than a small vacuum purifier: heating kerosene or diesel to dehydrate it costs you the fraction you were trying to protect.

Where it is used

Fuel depots, aviation fuelling equipment, standby diesel systems for data centres and hospitals, and light-oil hydraulic systems. The same problem shows up in lithium film production, where the oil has to be brought back to a usable colour and water content rather than replaced -- the mechanism is different but the constraint is the same: the fluid must come back to specification, not merely look cleaner.

Options and service

Stationary or mobile skid. Flow rates matched to the depot's transfer rate rather than to a tank volume. Water-in-oil monitoring on the outlet, and a coalescer ahead of the polymer stage where free water is present in bulk.