Aquarius^TM

Palox has developed and patented the Aquarius^TM additive which reduces water contamination on aircraft that use jet fuel. This innovative solution offers airlines and jet aircraft operators a product to achieve operational efficiencies and cost savings.

Water contamination (whether dissolved or free) in jet fuel can cause corrosion in fuel tanks, blocked filters, microbial growth and corrupted fuel probes. Airlines run extremely well managed house keeping procedures to deal with the problem, but at a financial cost and operational down-times.

Aquarius^TM offers cost saving benefits including reduced water drain volumes, reduced downtime and reduced ice accretion.

Palox guided its proprietary additive through a long and complex approval process working closely with industry stakeholders including regulatory authorities, the aero engine manufacturers, and many airlines whose guidance and advice was essential to achieving approval.  The Aquarius^TM additive was finally included in the Jet Fuel specifications ASTM D1655 and ASTM D7566 in July 2020 under a new section entitled: Into Plane Water Management.

In 2011 Palox granted BASF SE an exclusive license to manufacture and sell Aquarius^TM for specified market segments in Aviation.

Water Contamination & It’s Consequences

The presence of free water in aircraft fuel tanks is problematic for a number of reasons, which includes deterioration in engine performance, maintenance overheads and operational safety risks.  Free water needs to be drained, sometimes tested for microbial manifestation and finally safely disposed of regularly.

Apart from labour and down-time costs, fuel and fuel management form a large portion of an airline’s costs.

Water contamination causes the following operational problems for aircraft operators:

• Water cannot burn and “flameouts” occur.
• Adds unnecessary additional weight in the form of ingress water.
• Water may affect capacitance gauging probes.
• Increases maintenance windows and downtime costs due to water drainage.
• Water will form ice on cooling and this ice can detach and can restrict or block the fuel supply to the engine.
• Water can result in additional corrosion in the fuel tanks and fuel systems.
• The presence of water and fuel encourages the growth of microbiological proliferation. In extreme cases this would have to be cleaned either by shock biocide treatment or by manual in-tank cleaning.

There has not been a solution that tackles into plane water management until the introduction of Aquarius^TM.

The Technology

Aquarius^TM technology deals with water contamination in hydrocarbon fuels which has the ability to absorb water molecules into the fuel thus burning along with it, in a single phase.

Water contained in a single-phase fuel behaves like fuel, thus it will:

• Promote a clean burn process helping to reduce emissions
• And it will not freeze or form ice crystals (until the fuel freezes)
• It will not be available to support corrosion and microbial life in the aircraft fuel tanks and pipes.

Aquarius^TM works by:

• Mode of Action: binds the water molecule into the fuel using a molecular “cage” or micelle rendering the water molecule physically inert.
• No chemical reaction: in the fuel – neither with the additive components nor with water
• Solubility: maintains the solubility of dissolved water even at the fuel’s freeze point
• Single phase: this water “encapsulation” presents a single-phase