You may recall seeing this before. UFTO has introduced it up a couple of times in the past, the last time in an UFTO Note, 5 Mar 2001. The company has a new name- ISOPur Fluid Technologies. It now has backing from major VCs, new top management, and it’s proving itself in the marketplace. While a bit slower on the uptake compared with some other industries, utilities are increasingly interested in the dramatic O&M savings this technology can demonstrate, in a wide array of applications.

The Technology

ISOPur Fluid Technologies has a unique patented technology, known as Balanced Charge Agglomeration (BCA) that filters oil and other non-conducting fluid to levels not achieved by conventional filtration. Most oil filters found in automobiles, power plants, and the like can remove particles as small as 3-10 microns. However, half of the mass of debris and other contamination in the oil is in particles of 1 micron or less. ISOPur splits the oil flow into two parallel paths, and uses high voltage electrodes to ionize the contamination particles, half positive and half negative, thus the "balanced charge." The two paths are combined and the oppositely charged particles are attracted to each other and "agglomerate" to form larger particles which can then be removed by conventional filtration.

Not only is the oil made "cleaner than new", but the process actually removes particles and varnish from the inner workings of machinery, dramatically extending service intervals and equipment life.

Customer benefits in actual applications:

— Reduced equipment downtime – scheduled and unscheduled, e.g. reduced failures of hydraulic actuators in pulp and paper mills.

— Reduced maintenance and repair costs, e.g. extended time between overhauls for gas turbines.

— Improved recycling of used oil, e.g. reprocessing and reuse of waste vegetable oil in the production of bio-diesel fuel.

— The cost of periodically replacing old fluids with new, e.g. reduced frequency of changing oil in the cabs of windmills, thus reducing transport of oil and waste oil to and from remote locations and in structures hundreds of feet in the air.

— Extended equipment life, e.g. near elimination of coking and reduced wear in utility tap-changers.

The ISOPur technology can also reduce diesel fuel emissions such as heavy metals, ash and other harmful particulate by removing these elements at the fuel source before the fuel is combusted. The ISOPur units also will remove bacteria from fuels, thereby preserving the quality of fuels that are stored for extended periods.

Fortune 500 customers include Pfizer, Wheelabrator Corp., Eaton Corp, and alliances are underway with others spanning a wide range of market applications – from oil recycling to on-board vehicle systems to commercial cooking equipment.

Utility Experience The company is ready for a push with the utility industry. Initial experience is highly encouraging. A major southern US utility has tested the process on its Frame 7 turbines. Another Frame 7 owner in Asia is reporting that ISOPur does much better in a direct comparison with the nearest competitor (Kleen Tek). Several other utilities are placing orders for a variety of applications, and a major vendor of lube skids has entered into an OEM agreement. (Note that ISOPur can be used to enhance the performance of existing filtration systems.)

In Italy, ENEL ran tests in the lubricating oil treatment and control for a feed turbo-pump. They report, "we can state that the ISOPUR MAG 600CE oil treatment machine was shown to be effective and suitable for using in [this] machinery… Oil treatment … was found to be more effective than with the presently used traditional systems. The solid particulate present in the oil was drastically reduced and constant viscosity was thus maintained. No deterioration in additives present in the oil was noted." (report is on the website).

The company website has a great deal of information about the technology, economics, and the many applications, and success stories.
http://www.isopurfluid.com/
ISOPur Fluid Technologies, Inc. Rocky Hill, CT
Chris Sakorafos, V.P. of Marketing and Sales
860-571-8590 x231 csakorafos@isopurfluid.com

Robert P. Musselman, CEO
rmusselman@isopurfluid.com
PS: The company is in the midst of a late-stage round of fundraising, and will be presenting at the Cleantech Venture Forum V in Toronto, October 25-27. (contact the CEO).
http://www.cleantechventure.com/