AquaFuel Research Ltd. (Sittingbourne, Kent) has been awarded the Smart Award grant from the Department of Trade and Industry’s Small Business Service for its development of a new emulsion fuel, called Aquafuel, which combines water and diesel oil with castor bean oil for reduced emissions. The new fuel was created by British industrial chemist Paul Day, who blended the ingredients in an attempt to find a way of cutting harmful emissions in fuel. The new generation of emulsion fuels, which involve adding water, are dispersed as tiny droplets in fuels such as diesel, petrol, heating oil and kerosene. The milk-like fuel emulsions have long been the holy grail of fuels because they provide massive increases in combustion efficiency. More efficient burning means more power per litre, as well as dramatic reductions in both smoke and polluting emissions like nitrous oxides. The new fuel can be used without the need for expensive conversions.
"The big problem with emulsion fuels is that oil and water don’t mix, so the fuels are not stable for more than a few weeks. For decades, companies around the world have tried and failed to solve this problem, but it has taken UK innovators Aquafuel Research to come up with emulsion fuels that have all of the benefits of clean combustion, but which are stable for years and are cheap to make," stated Day, founder and principal of AquaFuel Research. "It can be used in the same way as any other fuel, which is what makes it so exciting. It is a straightforward fuel, but this is very new chemistry."
