An irrefutable measurement solution for bunker fuel oil

The metering of bunker fuel oil represents a series of difficult technical challenges, but BP Marine Fuels believed that by employing advanced technology, the arcane practice of manually measuring or ‘dipping’ the amount of bunker fuel oil on a fuel barge will be consigned to the past. Shipowners can now reconcile the volume of bunker fuel oil delivered without the requirement for inspection.

According to the latest statistics from Bunkerworld, an independent authority on marine fuel and shipping prices, challenges faced by the world’s bunkers are escalating. With 90% of the world’s trade on ships, the prices of bunkers have been soaring and the increased tightening in environmental regulations is changing the playing field for bunkers worldwide.

The burden of proof of bunker metering is on product users, as bunkers are sold by weight but delivered by volume. Commercial disputes arise easily as many of the purchasers are not present at the delivery point. Customers have no real-time access to the actual bunkering and, due to the lack of a global standard, documentation is often burdensome and disputes may arise in the post-delivery stage, paperwork processing and settling of payments.

Introduction of the measurement system at SIBCON

BP Marine Fuels appointed an independent consultant to evaluate all available technologies. In order to arrive at a definitive solution, BP developed a basic statement of requirements which, in the company's view, defined the ideal metering technology. The statement of requirements stated that for single-phase flow, an accuracy of 0.1% was required and for two-phase flow an accuracy of 0.5% was required. An invitation was then sent to potential partners and vendors to submit details of those metering products that complied with the basic statement of requirements.

Four vendors had put forward their Coriolis meters for evaluation. An initial review determined that the solution submitted by Invensys Process Systems (IPS) was able to meet the requirements.

IPS and Oxford University collaborated to develop metering technology to measure the delivery of bunker fuel oil to ships. An IPS Foxboro Coriolis meter was evaluated by the National Engineering Laboratory, endorsed by the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) and showcased at the SIBCON conference (Singapore International Bunkering Conference) organised by the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore, the venue being the world's largest bunkering port.

The accurate measurement of all bunker fuel oil delivered to ships can now be guaranteed, much in the same way a petrol pump measures the delivery of petrol to a car. The benefits are far reaching, including increased efficiency and improved safety for personnel, and it is hoped that the technology will now be adopted throughout the worldwide shipping industry.

The solution

The difficulty in measuring bunker fuel oil is caused principally by air retention, but the Foxboro Coriolis meter has the ability to ‘see’ the entrained air and therefore accurately measure the mass of bunker fuel oil. Following the successful evaluation of the Foxboro Coriolis meter, the next stage was to develop a standardised open skid design which would house the meter.

IPS created a lock and load system with a barge having a pre-assigned mounting area where the skid would be secured. The skid could be simply transported by truck for periodic maintenance and tests. The design ensured that the integrity of the meter was not compromised and the system was both visible and secure. Future skids would comply with the new IPS design, ensuring that the same basic layout was replicated throughout the world.

The results

It is believed that, in time, customers will express a preference towards those operators supplying bunker fuel oil through the new metering system.

BP Marine Fuels CEO Graeme Alexander said, “Our efforts and those of our technology partner IPS have now resulted in a bunker fuel oil metering system that can claim to provide irrefutable measurement results. We now hand over the baton to IBIA to encourage the rollout of the technology worldwide.”

Don Gregory, Director Sustainability & Fuel Technology at BP Marine Fuels, said, "We have taken this initiative to drive forward the use of technology within the bunkering industry to develop, with our partners, a metering system that is both accurate and reliable. However, it has always been BP Marine Fuel’s intention to hand over stewardship of the metering technology to IBIA and encourage its widespread adoption for the benefit of all stakeholders in the bunker industry.”

In the future, irrefutable measurement data captured by the Foxboro Coriolis meter can be transferred to a central location where bunker fuel oil expenditure and usage can be monitored centrally. This type of data interchange allows real-time monitoring of bunker fuel oil deliveries from multiple ships worldwide and will therefore be of interest to ship owners, charterers and port authorities. The principal benefit for the barge operator is a faster turnaround, which in turn should improve cashflow and reduce working capital.

Invensys Process Systems (Australia) Pty Ltd
www.ips.invensys.com