One of the objectives of ensuring the required quality of the heavy fuel oil on board of a vessel is to monitor it for the presence of cat fines. As cat fines are extremely abrasive particles of various sizes that can cause severe damages to the components of the engine system, the bunker fuel oil undergoes a purifying procedure in a separator prior to being used for a vessel’s engine operation.
However, the purification process does not always guarantee the removal of these particles to a minimum acceptable level due to technical malfunctions of the cleaning system, the initially high content of cat fines in the delivered HFO or other factors related to the fuel maintenance on board.
With regard to the above-stated issue and pursuing its business strategy to provide best technical solutions in the oil quality management, Martechnic® has come up with a new effective test method for the regular on-site monitoring of the oil condition for the presence of cat fines.
The MT Cat Fines Check allows a quick determination of cat fines’ concentration in bunker fuel delivered on board as well as purified in a separator in order to define whether a particular HFO is acceptable to the engine system or not.
A Martechnic®’s spokesperson commented: "The regular assessment of the quality of heavy fuel oil enables an efficient identification of cat fines directly on board and provides with a quick overview not only of the HFO condition, but also of the overall state of the on-board equipment required for HFO’s treatment before entering the engine".
Referring to the challenging issue of cat fines for the shipping industry, Martechnic® will showcase its new test device at the upcoming trade shows: Posidonia Metropolitan Expo 6-10 June 2016 in Greece, and Marine Maintenance World Expo 21-23 June 2016 in Amsterdam. The participants and visitors will be informed about the company’s latest developments in portable on-site oil analysis equipment, as well as sensor devices for permanent oil monitoring and cleaning facilities.