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Jerry M. Brownstein
President & CEO
Phone:
(425) 392.3848
Fax:
(425) 392.0222
Email:
jbxextex@comcast.net

Observation of X-TEX-B12  Removing Residual Sheen

Introduction -  Several distributors and customers have asked, “How does X-TEX-B12 handle the residual oil sheen that is always left after clean-up?"  A local distributor described a situation that occurred after a fire at a large Seattle marina.  Several large boats were destroyed in the fire and a large fuel spill occurred. Booms were installed to corral the fuel, allowing crews to mop up the fuel.   Using current polypropylene products and devices they were not able to eliminate the last bit of irritating sheen although the residual sheen may have been less than 10 ppm.

We tested X-TEX to solve this pesky problem in an in-house experiment.  We know from past tests that our product will perform similar to that of a polypropylene pad when placed on top of oil in a aqueous matrix.

Observation Test -  We placed about seven gallons of water into a ten gallon aquarium and placed several drops of gasoline into the water. The gas instantly formed a sheen on top of the water. We placed a small piece of X-TEX (5 by 8 inch ) pad media on top of the water and moved it through the sheen. The sheen remained. 

We then placed the X-TEX approximately three inches below the water surface and pulled the X-TEX upward through the water column and sheen.  The sheen was gone in the area that the material had passed through.

Conclusion -  From our in-house test,  X-TEX removed the residual sheen. The solution is that the sheen must go through the X-TEX material, it can not just make contact. Further tests are being completed that will also verify our observation. 

X-TEX has also been installed in an oil water separator that suffered the same problem with a recurring residual sheen. Nothing that was tried, removed the sheen until X-TEX was used.  Even at a high flow rate X-TEX removed the visible sheen.  Analytical tests affirmed that the X-TEX removed the sheen. These test results will be available shortly.