Fuel Oil Sampling is the most important aspect of any bunkering.
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Fuel Oil Sampling
Without doubt, the most important aspect of any bunkering is the subject of fuel oil sampling. This covers the method of taking the sample, location and witnessing.
The importance of a suitably drawn and witnessed representative oil sample cannot be over-emphasised. It forms the basis of all discussion, debate or dispute resolution relating to the bunkering. The commonest and most economic means of obtaining a representative sample is by using a drip type sampler.
In back to back tests performed by a major fuel testing laboratory over an extended period, fuel oil samples obtained by drip samplers were identical to those from more expensive automatic fuel samplers. There seems to no justification for the very considerable extra expense involved in automatic samplers, manufacturers’ claims not withstanding.
The table shows the comparison of fuel oil samples taken by manual continuous drip and automatic sampling equipment and is extracted from a paper by Lloyd’s Registrar of Shipping. Source 14th Oslo Bunker Conference “The Bunker Sample - The evidence”
| Comparison of manual & automatic sampler | |||||||||||||||||||
Parameter |
Drip Sampler |
d |
Automatic Sampler |
d |
|||||||||||||||
KV at 100° C |
23.07 | 24.32 | 24.42 | 24.42 | |||||||||||||||
Density mg/kg at 15°C |
953.7 | 953.6 | 953.6 | 953.7 | |||||||||||||||
Water % V/V |
1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 | |||||||||||||||
Ash % m/m |
0.1 | 0.1 | 0.098 | 0.11 | |||||||||||||||
MCR % M/M |
9.54 | 9.60 | 9.73 | 9.56 | |||||||||||||||
Sulphur % M/M |
2.65 | 2.63 | 2.59 | 2.61 | |||||||||||||||
Pour Point °C |
+24 | +24 | +27 | +27 | |||||||||||||||
Aluminium mg/kg |
4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
Silicon mg/kg |
9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||||||