The latest marine fuels are creating stability issues both in storage and operation.
The Talisman in Sydney Image: Wilhelmsen |
According to latest reports in Motorship, new fuels are creating challenges for both bunkering services and ship owners requiring a more sophisticated range of lubricants and additives as well as frequent testing.
As recently highlighted by OATS, the complexity of marine lubricants has increased. The latest report states that low-suphur fuels are driving much of this development due to the nature of their lubricity and instability.
Low-sulphur fuels made from residual refining products (residual fuels) have a tendency to be extremely instable, causing sludge build-up during engine operation, according to a spokesman for Wilhemsen Ships Service.
On the other hand, fuels produced during the oil distillation process itself (distillate fuels) pose greater storage and lubricity challenges, particularly for fuels with sulphur content of less than 0.1%. According to Wilhelmsen, distillate fuels are generally only protected by additives for around six months, after which time they tend to degrade without further stabilisation. Often poor fuel performance is blamed on the lack of sulphur, rather than other factors which can break down lubricity.
The recommendation is regular testing from the point of treatment, through to bunkering and operation. Careful selection of additives and lubricants at all stages of storage and use is also recommended.