THE CHEMISTRY OF
Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Oil Treatment
INTRODUCTION: Fegley’s first starts with only the highest quality specification fuels (Valero is an American company based in San Antonio, Texas and has the largest refinery network in the U. S.). During the refining process, transportation, and storage, even the cleanest fuel can gradually degrade and create potential handling and firing problems. In order to compensate for such unpredictable situations, Fegley’s adds a customized fuel oil treatment/conditioner to the fuel. Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Fuel Treatment is a unique, highly concentrated, additive providing multifunctional benefits that control sludge, metal reactions, soot, instability, corrosion/moisture, and pollution.
SLUDGE: Instability and aging of any heating oil may, in time, cause the precipitation of heavy hydrocarbon sediment and eventual sludge formations. Fegley’s fuel treatmentis composed, in part, of sludge penetrating agents chemicals that are able to lower the interfacial tension between such solid particles and to thus keep the sediment dispersed as microscopic and harmless particles. In addition, Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Fuel Treatment exhibits a mild solvency action that permits the gradual, controlled removal of existing sludge deposits from tank and lines. A second source of sludge polymerization is via the synergistic effect of metallic particles, especially copper, that typically originate within storage tanks and lines. Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Fuel Treatment contains a metal deactivator to inhibit any possibility of such adverse chemical reactions.
SOOT: Less than ideal combustion operations can cause soot formation in the burner chamber and stack. Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Fuel Treatment contains organometallic combustion catalysts that tend to lower the ignition temperature of the carbon, thereby safely eliminating any existing deposits, and preventing any further deposits. Through this mechanism, an added benefit is improved combustion efficiency due to the elimination of heat-insulating soot.
INSTABILITY: Because of the inherent chemical nature of fuel oils, a mixture of various hydrocarbon structures, gradual separation of specific fractions is possible. Therefore, oil-soluble stabilizers and anti-oxidants, included in Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Fuel Treatment, act together to inhibit fuel fractionation and oxidation that are the main causes of fuel instability.
CORROSION: Corrosion attributed to fuel oil combustion usually involves sulfurous fumes or acidic water. Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Fuel Treatment renders sufficient alkalinity to help neutralize the acid fumes generated by combustion. In addition, through select corrosion inhibitors, the additive also controls corrosion of the tank and lines by establishing a chemisorbed passivating film on metal surfaces. Also, water dispersants in the formulation prevent the accumulation of condensation and thus eliminate another source of potential corrosion.
POLLUTION: Unchecked sulfurous fumes released during combustion contribute to atmospheric pollution. Also, faulty combustion of oil will generate excessive soot and unsightly black smoke. Fegley’s Premium Plus “ENHANCED” Heating Fuel Treatment will effectively control these pollution sources.
