UK Laboratories > Sunbury Technology Centre

Bunker Fuel Analysis

Section 5 of ISO 8217:2005 requires that bunker fuel should not contain any added substance or chemical waste which:

• Jeopardises the safety of ships or adversely affects the performance of machinery
• Is harmful to personnel
• Contributes overall to additional air pollution

Events over the past few years have suggested that marine bunker fuels has on occasion been adulterated with chemical waste products such as styrene, chlorinated solvents and other volatile solvents

Intertek Sunbury Technology Centre provides a headspace GCMS service for the detection of such volatile contaminants in bunker fuel. A small amount of fuel oil is heated in a sealed vial for one hour, after which time a portion of the vapour above the sample is taken for GCMS analysis. Solvents such as dry cleaning fluids and chemical wastes such as styrene are easily detectable down to low ppm level using this technique.

Additionally, Intertek Sunbury Technology Centre offers a service to analyse bunker fuel to identify heavier contaminats such as vegetable oils and waste contaminants such as adipic esters.