During 2019, our Fuel Specialties business continued to support the marine industry’s transition to low sulfur fuels as it prepared for the introduction of the International Marine Organization’s (IMO) 2020 regulations.
Our OctamarTM range has helped many refiners, ship owners and operators clean and prepare tanks and pipelines ready for new low sulfur fuels, to be used from 1 January 2020. All responsible parties had to ensure that fuel storage tanks were clean of heavy fuel oil asphaltene sludge deposits to prevent the contamination of the new low sulfur fuels.
Tank and pipeline cleaning methods are expensive and can expose the workers involved to significant health and safety risks. The OctamarTM BT product series helps keep asphaltenes stable and in suspension, which would otherwise settle out as sludge in the tank.
Alongside the launch of the OctamarTM range for end users, the TridentTM marine fuel additive range was also launched. The new range was created to ensure that upstream fuel manufacturers support the transition to low sulfur fuels as required by the new IMO2020 regulations. The additive range gives manufacturers greater blend flexibility and the capability to make higher quality fuels.
In 2019, to meet increasing customer demand and ever more stringent regulations, we opened a new marine fuels laboratory at The Woodlands, US facility. The new laboratory was commissioned to help us understand the behavior of these newly produced fuels alongside new product development and formulation.
