The increasing concern at the outbreak of contaminated fuel, which has appeared in both Houston and Singapore, in addition to the Americas, causing engine failures and mechanical damage, has led fuel treatment provider Aderco to publicize its fuel treatment solution as “the most effective short-term solution to the increasingly reported current contamination issues in maritime shipping”
Olivier d’Olne, Group Technical Director of Aderco, said that “whilst not a magic wand, we offer a practical solution that can help ships affected by contaminated fuel reach port safely”.
He noted that contaminated fuel was a real threat to marine engines. He said that fuel treatment Aderco 2055G could mitigate problems that can have serious mechanical and financial implications.
Ships affected by contaminants can limp back to port but often the strain on both the crew and on the mechanical systems can be disastrous. Problems could include plungers sticking, injection valves needing to be replaced, broken rings, cracked pistons and even connecting rods bent.
Although it has been reported that some Singapore-based traders of marine fuel say the contaminated fuels are hard to detect as they pass industry standards and contain compounds not usually tested for, D’Olne believed that pre-emptive action could lessen the damage. “Aderco fuel treatments have strong detergency properties and this leaves a coating around the aromatics (heavy hydrocarbons) and reduces the polymerisation that is destructive to the engine. We understand that we are currently the only company offering a product strong enough to control these aromatics. Aderco is constantly in discussion with companies looking for advice and help with fuel issues. In the run-up to the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) global sulphur cap starting 2020, there will be serious issues experienced by different blended fuels and we are telling our clients that by using fuel treatment they can remove the fears over new compliant fuels”, he said