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ASCENZ

Bunkering Monitoring

Experience better transparency and trust between buyers and suppliers.

Bunkering Monitoring gives you a real-time visualisation of bunker processes from start to finish with key parameters monitored. Prevent measurement inaccuracy and uncertainty of bunker quantity calculation.

How bunker disputes may happen

Different fuel types used by vessels have different complex physical properties, and due to this, multiple readings are often needed to verify the quantity of the bunker delivered. Traditionally, ship owners and operators have concerns about the quantity of bunker transacted given that mass is often calculated from a combination of volume, density and temperature measurements.

With these factors at play, measurements may be compromised and bunker transaction sales may be inaccurately reflected, giving rise to bunker disputes between buyers and suppliers. For instance, because fuel is fluid, an excessive amount of entrained air trapped within can cause “foaming”, resulting in inaccurate volume measurement. Some bunker suppliers may use such opportunities to inject air into the bunker while it is pumped into the ship’s tank to create an elevated fuel volume reading. This “Cappuccino Effect” technique has continuously troubled the maritime industry as it usually takes an extended amount of time for the bunker foams to settle before ship operators can detect the issue.

Using Bunkering Monitoring and Mass Flow Meters for better transparency

Bunkering Monitoring

Using a combination of the Bunkering Monitoring module linked with the BunkerXchange onboard interface and mass flow meters (MFM) like Flowmet leverages accurate data to provide extra transparency, thereby reducing instances of bunker disputes. Buyers have full visibility of the bunker reading measurements and bunker transfers in real-time to know exactly the amount and quality they are paying for.

Bunker process can be viewed in real-time through the Bunkering Monitoring application. Crew members can monitor key parameters such as:

Flow rate
Drive gain (to identify aerated bunker)
Density
Temperature
Bunker quantities of ships
Ship location

The Bunker Monitoring application increases the speed, accuracy and transparency of data collection, quickly detects irregularities and enhances visibility, improving trust between buyers and suppliers.

In addition, using Flowmet flow meters to measure bunker mass helps to increase efficiency of the bunkering process. Flowmet meters are unaffected by flow profiles and physical condition changes like temperature, viscosity, and pressure. This eliminates the need to take manual readings from the ship tank before and after the bunkering process to allow faster turnaround and shorter port stays, thereby reducing administrative processes and costs. Mass flow meters can help to save between 2 to 3 hours per bunkering operation, compared to traditional manual tank dipping. Increasing number of ports around the world are mandating the use of mass flow meter systems to measure fuel oil bunkering – get started now.

Smart Bunkering – Reliable bunkering practices enhanced by new technologies

Effective bunkering monitoring can be further enhanced using new technologies. The Smart Bunkering solution designed by Ascenz provides an innovative way to analyse the bunkering profile data. Smart Bunkering acquires MFM key data (mass flow rate (t/h), density (kg/m3), temperature (°C), drive gain (%), and totalising of the bunker fuel), stores and display the data both onboard (via the BunkerXchange interface) and onshore.

With the different combinations of data, automatic identification and classification of operations can be done throughout the entire bunkering process. The bunkering data are also used for predictive bunkering, where the flow rate, density and frequency can be modelled and are compared to the actual data set of the bunkering process. Deviations between the predicted data set and the actual data set will be used for alerting any possible safety breaches or malpractices.

Smart Bunkering also leverages machine-learning technologies to rate and score MFM bunker transfer operations. This solution allows operations and procurement staff to have automated analysis on each bunkering operation and on the overall performance and activity trends. All bunker events, including start and end of bunker, bunker abnormality, tank changes and entrained air, are automatically classified. From there, further investigations can be raised for review.