Checking Free Water Content in Oil

When I was in the Air Force and working in the Base Fuels department we used that type of paste to detect water in fuel storage tanks. I am sure it is available from a supplier to the fuels storage and distribution industry. Check with a local bulk fuel distributor. Sorry I do not recall the name, but it works great. We simply smeared a line of it on our tank gauging plumb-bob and when retrieved the water at the bottom of the tank had changed the color of the paste.

Good luck

sir,

nice meeting you at this site .We also use similar kind of oil which does not mix up with water and we normally measure the amount of water settled at the bottom by a Glass tube taken at both ends(i.e top and bottom)of the tank to calibrate and measure the amount of water at the bottom. This seems to be more simple and good visual indicator.

I also think use of paste also is a better idea.

with best regards

Shesh

We are using the paste KOLOR KUT for our oil/water separators. It works very fine and give a good first indication.

If for any reason you need to have quantitative analysis you must go for chemical analysis (Karl Fisher Method). The equipment and the method needs a experienced chemist to do it - better send it out to a external lab.

Water finding paste is really good for a rough indication of how much oil is in your water or water in your oil depending on the degree of contamination. Another reusable trick is to use a drum thief. This is a glass or plastic see through tube of about 50mm (2 inches for the imperialist republicans in the USA) in diameter and a convenient length. For a 205 litre drum a 1.4m length is good. The tricky bit is the holes in either end are only 10mm in diameter, roughly a half inch. This means you can gently insert the tube into the drum or tank, so as to not disturb the contents, and then place the thumb or a cork in the top end and retrieve the tube from the tank. Being see through you can now see the vertical cross section of you tank complete with any stratification that may be taking place and the contamination that may be at the bottom of the tank.

Thanks to all for their wonderful suggestions. This has solved my problem.