For Optimum Diesel Fuel Fit Algae-X February 2007

Visitors to Durban’s yacht mole will no doubt have cast envious eyes on Foreplay, a Ferretti 85 Foot Luxury motor cruiser built in Italy that starts most people dreaming of exotic locations and blue water. Beneath the sleek exterior, oak pan-elled lounge and dining room and five en suite bed-rooms fit for kings lies the business end of the yacht – twin MTU 1500 HP diesel en-gines capable of thrusting the lux-ury queen of the oceans forward at a speed of 34 knots. Foreplay’s captai Wyndham Tops who is also the agent for Fore-most Yacht Sales said: “We visit a lot of harbours up and down Southern Africa’s Coast and as you can imagine, at some places the diesel fuel is not always of the

highest standard. With these high tech engines the manufac-turers insist on clean diesel, not fuel that is contaminated with a build up of bacteria and algae, which can rapidly damage the sensitive fuel injectors and

pumps. We stipu-lated that we require optimum diesel fuel qual-ity.” After looking for a cost effective permanent solu-tion to ensure the fuel going into this state-of- the-art cruiser is of a high stan-dard he elected to do what most leading US luxury

boat builders and leading marine engine manufacturers do. Fit and recommend Algae-X fuel condi-tioning technology which is dis-tributed by CFT the Southern African Distributor of the US based product range. contd on page 2

Inside

Van Tonder Transport Ser-vices celebrates 15 million trouble-free kilometres with Algae-X — page 4

Genmatics fits Algae-X to heavy duty Gensets — cut-ting downtime and increasing reliability—page 3

Foreplay gets intimate with Algae-X

An LG-X unit is fitted to Foreplay’s genset in the

spacious engine compartment

The Foreplay at moorings in Durban’s Yacht mole

With the frequent power failures in South Africa which are set to con-tinue indefinitely and will worsen with the onset of winter, the de-pendency on emergency standby power generators increases con-siderably. However, because generators are idle while the power is on, the diesel fuel in the tanks and stor-age facilities becomes contami-nated through a number of causes and are the primary reasons for injector, pump and ultimately en-gine failures. A case in point was Durban’s Albert Luthuli Hospital where the diesel in the storage tanks used to run the hospital’s standby genera-tors had become emulsified as a result of water seepage creating bacterial breeding grounds. Had evasive action not been taken timeously, the generators could well have failed. Ron Mattig, MD of Clear Fuel Technologies, the importer of Al-gae-X, a diesel decontamination technology, explained that standby generators are particu-larly susceptible to diesel deterio-ration due to their long periods of infrequent use. “Most organisations spend large amounts ensuring that their standby equipment is maintained to the highest standard, but ne-glect the vital aspect that engines require good quality fuel to oper-ate efficiently. “Good quality fuel is the essential component for standby power engines and Algae-X is the tech-nology that reconditions decon-taminated fuel. Algae-X has de-signed and developed technolo-gies to maintain optimum diesel fuel quality not only in standby generator environments, but across the entire spectrum of die-sel-powered engines.”

The engine room of the Foreplay where Lauge Steenfeldt-Kristensen was busy installing Algae-X technology to the fuel system that powers the twin MTU 1500 HP diesel engines.

Foreplay gets intimate with Algae-X contd from page 1 Not satisfied with only fitting LG-X in line units for the two engines, Captain Tops also requested that the technology be fitted to the two gensets which maintain a clean current of 220 volts throughout the luxury yacht. As a final precaution a fifth LG-X unit was fitted to the recycling pump. Mr Lauge Steenfeldt-Kristensen who runs Algae-X East Coast which fitted the LG-X units to Foreplay, says all the diesel used on board the yacht will run through an LG-X unit before by-passing the fuel injectors and pumps. “You can run the most up to date motors with the most sophisticated filtration systems, but you’ll still run the risk of damag-ing the sensitive bits by using con-taminated diesel. Filters although a vital component are unable to re-verse the natural

deterioration process that diesel fuel suffers from. It is this deteriorated fuel that causes damage to diesel engines especially in our marine environ-ments.” He notes that with uncontami-nated diesel, the engines’ lifespan will be prolonged as the wear and tear is reduced dramatically through the use of Algae-X tech-nology. At the same time the risk of engine failure at sea is mini-mised. Other important and cost saving benefits that optimum diesel fuel quality brings is a reduction in dirty exhaust emissions and fuel consumption( between 3-6%) which is substantial when one considers that at full throttle her 6000 litre tank will be depleted in 12 hours.

Foreplay’s Captain Wyndham Tops: “clean fuel is essential”

Clean diesel fuel essential for reliable

emergency generators

Whilst the tug was temporarily out of service, the stored diesel fuel in her bunkers had deteriorated to the extent that in needed to be replaced as the use of it it would be harmful to the engines. Simul-taneously, the black smoke emit-ted from the funnels would be detrimental to the environment which the NPA is committed to going to great lengths to protect. Explaining that diesel fuel has a limited shelf life and is prone to natural deterioration which occurs when fuel is stored for lengthy periods of t ime - Lauge Steenfeldt-Kristensen of Algae-X East Coast, says the fuel agglom-erates (gathers into a mass or disorderly clusters) resulting in poor combustibility and filterability, which leads to premature engine failure and expensive downtime and higher emissions. “There are two options available. One is to discard the fuel outright and manually clean the tank which is both costly and environ-mentally harmful or with the new technol-ogy now available a m o r e p r e f e r a b l e method is to clean the tanks and recondition the fuel without having to dispose of vast quantities of fuel. This is the most cost effec-tive method,” says Mr Steenfeldt-Kristensen. Because a number of tugs operating in the Durban harbour have already been fitted with

the technology that constantly reconditions the diesel, and hav-ing utilised the ALGAE_X MTC technology to clean their land based storage tanks ,with impres-sive results. The NPA made the decision to decontaminate the fuel on board the Nonoti utilising the technology The re-commissioning took place at the NPA’s Bayhead workshops and involved pumping more than 48 000 litres of diesel through an Algae-X Mobile Tank Cleaning (MTC) system on the deck and pumping it back to the storage tanks. “We detected an abnormally high level of water content, silt and agglomerated content in the fuel which would have been very detri-mental to the smooth running of the engines not to mention the impact on the fuel injectors and fuel pumps or the environment,” Steenfeldt-Kristensen noted.

Since her reintroduction into service her engines have performed flawlessly and her previous high smoke emissions have reduced dramatically. ► Meanwhile the NPA has made the strategic decision to fit Algae-X

diesel decontamina-tion technology to all

its tugs as well as new diesel propelled craft that form part of the

authority’s fleet.

Genmatics Generators, a Dur-ban based company that primarily serves the marine industry with heavy duty generator equipment and air compressors, has recog-nised the impact that contami-nated diesel causes to its equip-ment and has taken remedial ac-tion to avoid costly engine failure and downtime. About 20 heavy duty generators have been fitted with units to en-sure that the diesel is of a high standard (see picture below).

MD Tony Vassilatos said diesel is generally of poor quality in SA and steps need to be taken to protect investments and ensure only diesel of the highest standards is used on expensive plant machin-ery. Since using Algae-x on his gen-sets and compressors for the past two years, Genmatics has experi-enced no pump injector or turbo charger failures. Being organic in nature, diesel has a shelf life and very often users purchase degraded fuel. A further problem caused by con-taminated diesel is that when it mixes with engine oil, the sludge content creates an abrasive effect causing unnecessary engine wear.

NPA minimises environmental impact, prolongs engine life with diesel decontaminator technology

Left: Before & after samples of the Nonoti’s diesel Right: sludge is removed from the tug’s tanks using the Algae-X Mobile Tank Cleaning system

A typical Mobile Tank Cleaning (MTC) system from Algae-X

The National Ports Authority (NPA) has brought the tug Nonoti back into service to meet the growing demand of container and general traffic in Durban harbour.

Van Tonder Transport Services – 15 million trouble-free kilometres

Arguably South Africa’s most “clinically precise” fleet of trucks, Van Ton-der Transport Services, has achieved in excess of 15 million “trouble-free” kilometres since fitting Algae-X technol-ogy to its MAN TGA haulers. This was confirmed by the fleet operator’s owner Flippie van Ton-der who said that after a range of tests were con-ducted the decision was made to install Algae-X before new vehicles leave the depot. Tests included measuring exhaust temperatures with and without Algae-X installed both on the trucks as well as on the com-pany’s dynamometer. “We were very impressed with the results. Exhaust temperatures dropped significantly leading to the engine running cooler and cleaner thus prolonging engine life. “We also recorded a return on investment (ROI) on fuel saving of 6% which is significant for a fleet of 144 trucks,” said Van Tonder. The fleet operator decided about three years ago that the persistent deterioration of the quality of die-

sel prompted it to fit diesel condi-tioning systems to its fleet of MAN trucks. Initially sceptical about the per-formance of Algae-X as a diesel conditioner - because so many products have claimed to solve the problem but not delivered Van Tonder was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. A decision was taken to find some clarification by means of a dyna-mometer test, which proved a slight increase in power at slightly lower revs. A second TGA was then fitted with an Algae-X unit on the basis of a before and after fuel consumption test and an improve-ment of about 6% was achieved.” Van Tonder Transport Services is

passionate about being the best specialised grain transporter in SA convey-ing 40 000 tonnes of grain per month. The maintenance of its fleet plays a major role in fulfilling this goal and employs highly skilled technicians who are kept up to date on the latest technologies that are introduced. “We are perfectionists and set our own high standards in the belief that to offer high service to our customers it’s im-

portant to keep our vehicles on the road and not in the workshop.” Mr van Tonder says that in evalu-ating the product, before and after testing of Algae-X was carried out on two vehicles simultaneously for a 4 month period alternating driv-ers and varying routes. “We have made the strategic deci-sion to fit the units to new vehicles knowing that the ROI in fuel sav-ing alone is guaranteed,” he said. “In the light of these results we have taken the decision to fit our total fleet with Algae-X technology at the same time as we fit tracking devices and other essential sys-tems before they leave the yard.”

One of the impeccable trucks that make up the Van Tonder Transport Services fleet. The decision has been made to fit each truck with Algae-X before leaving the depot

For further details on the wide range of products that ensure you derive optimum diesel fuel, please visit:

www.algae-x.co.za

Next edition:

House of Fuel Horrors from our New Distributors Algae-X Mozambique and

Algae-X Mauritius