Sodium Polyacrylate Mixture Buffer Tank Solution for Fuel Quality and Tank Protection of Fuel Storage

Abstract

Sodium Polyacrylate mixture buffer tank solution for fuel quality and tank protection of fuel storage is disclosed. This invention uses a Sodium Polyacrylate mixture to remove water from fuel which is more efficient because it works without the use of filters, power, or fuel additives. This system also uses an off-line buffer tank that does not interfere with the on-site operations and allows the Sodium Polyacrylate mixture to extract water from fuel without power, agitation, filtration, or mixing.

Claims

1. A system for improving fuel quality, the system comprising: a fuel storage tank storing a supply of fuel; and a fuel transfer in fluid communication with the fuel storage tank and a solids filtration, the solids filtration in fluid communication with a buffer tank, the fuel being treated in the buffer tank with a Sodium Polyacrylate mixture.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a water drain-off in fluid communication with the fuel storage tank, the water drain-off allowing for excess free water to be drained off prior to transfer to the buffer tank.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a post-treatment safety filter in fluid communication with the buffer tank, the post-treatment safety filter configured to prevent the Sodium Polyacrylate mixture from exiting the buffer tank.

4. A method for improving fuel quality, the method comprising: passing fuel from a fuel storage tank to a buffer tank in fluid communication with the fuel storage tank, the buffer tank containing a Sodium Polyacrylate mixture; extracting water from the fuel by the Sodium Polyacrylate mixture; and passing the fuel back to the fuel storage tank.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising passing the fuel from the fuel storage tank through a solids filtration between the fuel storage tank and the buffer tank.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising passing the fuel from the buffer tank through a post-treatment safety filter.

7. A system for removing excess bound water from liquid fuels, the system comprising: a fuel storage tank storing a supply of fuel; and a fuel transfer in fluid communication with the fuel storage tank and a solids filtration, the solids filtration in fluid communication with a buffer tank, the fuel being treated in the buffer tank with a Sodium Polyacrylate mixture.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a water drain-off in fluid communication with the fuel storage tank, the water drain-off allowing for excess free water to be drained off prior to transfer to the buffer tank.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising a post-treatment safety filter in fluid communication with the buffer tank, the post-treatment safety filter configured to prevent the Sodium Polyacrylate mixture from exiting the buffer tank.

10. A method for removing excess bound water from liquid fuels, the method comprising: passing fuel from a fuel storage tank to a buffer tank in fluid communication with the fuel storage tank, the buffer tank containing a Sodium Polyacrylate mixture; extracting water from the fuel by the Sodium Polyacrylate mixture; and passing the fuel back to the fuel storage tank.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising passing the fuel from the fuel storage tank through a solids filtration between the fuel storage tank and the buffer tank.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising passing the fuel from the buffer tank through a post-treatment safety filter.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system for implementing a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an alternative exemplary embodiment of the system shown in FIG. 1.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an exemplary process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be beneficially implemented using the system as shown in FIG. 1.

[0032] FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an alternative embodiment of the process shown in FIG. 3, which may be beneficially implemented using the system as shown in FIG. 2.

[0033] The following reference numerals are provided in the drawings: [0034] 1Fuel storage or source tank [0035] 2Water drain-off pipeline [0036] 3Fuel transfer pipeline from fuel storage or source tank (or fuel supply) to solids filter [0037] 4Solids filter [0038] 5Fuel transfer pipeline to sodium polyacrylate (SAP) mixture buffer tank; [0039] 6SAP mixture buffer tank [0040] 7SAP mixture (resting on bottom of buffer tank) [0041] 8Fuel transfer pipeline from buffer tank to supply or storage tank [0042] 9Particulate solids [0043] 10Fuel transfer pipeline from buffer tank to post-treatment safety filter [0044] 11Post-treatment safety filter [0045] 12Fuel transfer pipeline to supply or storage tank [0046] 13Residue [0047] S101Step of fuel storage in fuel storage or source tank [0048] S102Step of fuel transfer from fuel storage or source tank (or fuel supply) to solids filter [0049] S103Step of solids filtration in solids filter [0050] S104Step of fuel transfer to SAP mixture buffer tank [0051] S105Step of fuel transfer from buffer tank to supply or storage tank [0052] S106Step of water drain-off (optional) [0053] S201Step of fuel storage in fuel storage or source tank [0054] S202Step of fuel transfer from fuel storage or source tank (or fuel supply) to solids filter [0055] S203Step of solids filtration in solids filter [0056] S204Step of fuel transfer to SAP mixture buffer tank [0057] S205Step of fuel transfer from buffer tank to supply or storage tank [0058] S206Step of filtration in post-treatment safety filter [0059] S207Step of fuel transfer to supply or storage tank [0060] S208Step of water drain-off (optional)