Singapore: Innospec technical talk discusses role of bunker fuel additives for shipping industry
- Published
by Admin
A technical talk titled The Role of Innospec Additives in Supporting Decarbonization in the Marine Sector organised by The Joint Branch of RINA and IMarEST (Singapore) and sponsored by Innospec was held at Club@52 on Friday (25 July).
Max Fok, China & Singapore Marine Sales Manager and Market Specialist at Innospec, focused on the role of fuel additives in the shipping industry, addressing decarbonisation, sludge reduction, and fuel stability in his presentation.
He detailed the benefits of Innospec’s Octamar BT-25, a heavy fuel dispersant, stabiliser, and combustion improver which offers up to 60% sludge reduction.
“Thanks to IMO 2020, many shipping companies got to know additives more through the bunker tank cleaning period,” explained Mr Fok.
“Octamar BT-25 is our pioneering product specialising in sludge reduction and tank cleaning. It is so effective, IMO mentioned in their circulars that this additive can be used as a marine fuel tank cleaning option.”
He shared a case study to show the sludge reduction properties of Octamar BT-25.
“Our product offers up to 60% sludge reduction; in this case study we recorded a 46% decrease in sludge which is equivalent to 0.5% of Specific Fuel Oil Consumption (SFOC) improvement through stability alone,” he said.
“You can see the sludge produced for the base fuel without additives. For example, tank one is producing 0.25 m3 of sludge per day, and tank two is giving 0.4 m3 e per day. But with our additive, the sludge produced on tank three is less than 0.15 m3 per day.”
Moving forward, Mr Fok noted shipping’s decarbonisation has resulted in the increasing use of bio variants for Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) material as bunker fuel.
This development has resulted in different fuel behaviour of bio-VLSFO bunker stems due to varying feedstocks. Further, the situation could be even made worse due to suboptimal storage conditions.
“Fuel additives help maintain the fuel stability and prolonged storage of bio bunker fuel by eliminating microbial growth to keep the fuel system clean while improving combustion efficiency and offering fuel savings,” shared Mr Fok.
“So, using additives for biofuel can also give you a peace of mind on your expensive asset.”
Photo credit: Innospec
Published: 11 August 2025
