JANUARY 2007 1

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Maanetize

By M ike Smith Photos by Craig Wal lace Dale

, - ,ar the end of the 2005 boating season, Richard Thiel, PMY's editor in chief, was in trouble. Just a few hours before he was about to fly to Italy, fuel problems had stran- gled his boat Ava T. in the middle of Long Island Sound. Since the fear of missing an expense-accountjunket to Eur- ope haunti every member of the boating press, Thiel, an ex- pert mechanic before moving to an editor's desk, changed the clogged fuel filters and bled the engine with lightning

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Who knew that was In there? The coalescer extracted this gunk from only one fuel tank there's enough in the cup to stop an engine In Its tracks,

speed, managing to get home just in time to catch his flight. He vowed not to relive the experience and before launching for the 2006 season called the folks at Algaex.

Algae-X International builds compact fuelconditioning systems that can be in- stalled on any diesel engine; you'll find them not only on boats, but on trucks, buses, cars, RVs, construction equip- ment, stationary gensets, and so forth. Unlike conventional fuel-polishing sys- tems, which use ultra-fine filters to sieve out sludge, dirt, and assorted gunk, Al- gae-X technology rejuvenates the hel. (Algae-X fuel conditioners don't re- place filters and water separators, but work in association with them.) Many top boatbuilders and engine distrib- utors, including Cummins MidSouth, are installing Algae-X fuel conditioners as standard equipment.

The problem Thiel faced is common nowadays, explains Bill O'Connell, pre- sident of Algae-X, thanks to changes in the petroleum refining process. When

there was plenty of crude oil available, diesel, gasoline, and other lightweight oils were refined by distillation, which produced lovely, creamy, long-lasting diesel that looked dmost good enough to drink. It was chemically stable and could be stored for years with no ill ef- fects. Unfortunately, distillation converts only about half the crude oil into light fuels; the other half becomes heavy Bunker C oil (used aboard ships to fire boilers) and assorted petroleum prod- ucts for manufacturing plastics, synthetic fabrics, cosmetics, asphalt, etc. But during World War 11, when the need for fuel was acute, chemists developed away to extract more light fuels and oils from the crude: Using a solid catalyst to "crack" the molecular bonds converted about 85 percent of the crude oil into hel. After the war ended, "catcracking" became more prevalent, and for the past 25 or 30 years, most crude has been re- fined thatway.

Unfortunately, O'Connell continues, cat-cracked diesel isn't as stable; over

time the forcibly separated light hydro- carbon molecules reconnect to form heavy hydrocarbons and, eventually, sludge. Sludge is a conglomeration of paraffin and asphalt, but today most people just call it "algae." "That's why we called the company 'Algae-X,"' he ex- plains.

Sludge can form in as little as two months, and when enough of it collects on the bottom of the fuel tanks, or whcn it's churned into suspension in the diesel fuel by rough weather, it can be drawn into the fuel system, where it can clog filters and worse: "The [sludge] is like little pieces of asphalt rocks that can grind up the injection sys- tem," O'Connell explains. "Small parti- cles get caught inside the injector pump and injectors andwear them out." And, he continues, high heat and pressure in the engine "cooks" the fuel that's re- turned to the tank, making the problem worse. According to O'Connell, the solution is to make the big pieces into little ones again: "It's not magic, it's

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physics." And it's done, interersting enough, with magnets. Open an Algae-X Model LGX in-line fuel conditioner, and

you'll find nothing but a doughnutshaped magnet. No fins, no filters, no baffles, nothing-just the magnet But the mag- net is designed so its lines of force intersectjust rightwith the fuel passing through the unit. "It's most effective when the electrons collide with the magnetic field at 90 degrees," explains O'Connell. "The fuel flows around the magnet."

Algae-X builds eight models in the LGX series, from a 3 x 3 unit for up to a 25-gph flow rate (say, 200 hp or less) to a 6 x 6 model that can handle up to the 2,500-gph flow of a 3,000- plus-hp diesel. (When calculating flow rates, remember that a diesel pumps more fuel than it bums; the excess, used for cooling the injectors, is returned to the tank.) The cost for most boats is probably less than that for a tank of fuel, including instaliation, which is simple and certainly less hassle

1. Jim Dallow inserts the fuel conditioner's pickup tube in one of Ava T.'s fuel tanks. 2. After the diesel fuel has been conditioned, it's returned to the fuel tank through the deck fill. 3. Dallow connects the return hose to the Algae-X via quick-connect fittings for the first conditioning phase.

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vacuum gauge monitors the condition of the Algae-X's fuel filter; as the filter dogs, the needle gradually moves,fmm gretMl to yellow to red.

than calling a towing company when your diesel succumbs to sludge.

Magnetic reconditioning of diesel fuel may sound NewAge-y, but it's based on sound science. According to chemist G. M e d Andrus, the spin of their elec- trons causes some fuel molecules t% nestle with others and form "almost solid particles (i.e., sludge) in the liq- uid. Age, heat, and microbes accelerate the formation of sludge; a dose of mag- netic energy can break up the clusters by changing the spin of the electrons in some, but not all, molecules. Molecules whose spin has reversed stop nestling with their unchanged neighbors, and the sludge breaks apart. (You can read the whole text of Andrus' paper, along with other reports supporting Algae-X technology, at www.algae-x.net/tech- papers.htm.) If you think this is all a bunch of mumbojumbo, consider what happens when you move a loop of copper wire through a magnetic field: You get electricity. would you believe that if you didn't see proof of it every day? I wouldn't, but it's true.

Because the diesel in Thiel's tanks was already dirty, simply installing an in-line conditioner wasn't. enough. He needed his fuel cleaned, polished, and recondi- tioned before starting the engine for the first time in 2006. And yes, Algae-X builds the gear for this, too.jim Dallow, from HinckleyYacht Services, an Algae- X dealer in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, arrived alongside Thiel's boat with an Algae-X MTG1000 Mobile Tank Qean- ing System in his van. The MTGlOOO consists of a fuel pump, separator/coa- lescer, spin-on fuel filter, and an A1gae-X in-line fuel conditioner mounted on an aluminum cart, along with several valves and gauges. The 160-pound assembly stands 4'O"H x 2'O"W x 2'OWD, with a handcart-style frame and wheels that make it easy to move. Algae-X builds several commercial tankcleaning sys- tems like this one, with up to 1,500-gph capacities; the MTGl000 can pump 900 gph. The company also m&es perma- nent-mount fuel-polishing systems that can circulate and recondition fuel while the boat sits in the slip.

For the first stage of reconditioning, Dallow arranged the MTC's hoses to draw fuel from the lowest point of one of the boat's two tanks, pump it through the coalescer to remove water and solid contaminants, through the Algae-X conditioner to break up sludge, and

Algae-X rep Max Givan points out the loca- tson of the coalescer on the oonditioner. !

96 Power & Motoryacht January ZOO7 www.powerandmotoryacht.com

then back into the tanks via the ondeck fuel fill. Accessing the low point of the tank meant removing the fuel-gauge sending unit, a simple job in this case, since the sending units for both tanks were easy to reach. Some folks won't be so lucky a n d d have to find otherways to get the intake hose to the bottom of their tanks. But drawing fuel from the tank's lowest point is important to pull out as much of the solid gunk as possible, so pulling it out of the fuel pickup ik't a good idea.

At 900 gph, it didn't take long to circulate the '75 gallons in the first tank. Dallow let the unit run long enough to condi- tion all the fuel several times, then shut down and drained the coalescer. There was some sludge in the bottom of the sam- ple, but not as much as I'd expected. Dallow then reconfig- ured the MTG1000's valves to add the 3micron-fine filter to the circuit to add a final polish. Again he circulated the fuel a few times, then drained some more. Now the fuel was clean and clear. He switched the hoses to the other tank and re- peated the process. The whole procedure took a couple of hours, during which Dallow spilled not a drop of fuel.

Once the fuel is polished and reconditioned and an in-line

Jim DaUow used dmpdoths to keep Ava T. dean; even his white shM remained spotless during the circulating and recondmoning pmcwses.

fuel conditioner has been installed, O'Conne11 recommends adding an appropriate amount of Algae-XAFG'705 Fuel Cat- alyst. (An eight-ounce bottle will treat 320 gallons of fuel.) Using these chemicals after mechanically treating the fuel takes care of any sludge that remains in the tank, he says, wwe preventing future sludge formation, improving combustion, and reducing emissions. "Using your boat a lot minimizes the problem [of sludge], but not all the fuel is ever burned; some is always left, but adding ne* fuel to old doesnlt make the old fuel new again," O'Connell explains. He adds that mixing fuels from Herent refineries can also cause problems since each company has its own cocktail of additives, which can react badly with one another. Chemical treatment prevents this, too; it's inexpensive insurance. (Algae-X 705 Catalyst also preserves ethanol-blended El0 gasoline.)

With Ava T. powered by dean, reconditioned, and chemi- cally treated diesel fuel, Thiel reports that he enjoyed a trouble-free 2006 boating season. Not only that, he says he caught all his flights with plenty of time to spare. @

Algae-X S (877) 425-4239 or (239) 690-9589. www.akae- x. net.

After COMMIonlng Am Ps kel, J h Dallaw adds Algae4 AFC-705 Cat- alyst to each tank to ent the formation of sludge in the future