Finland-based maritime fuel supply systems company Auramarine has announced the launch of its AM Water Content Analyser, which measures and reports the concentration of water in methanol, helping ship operators take preventive action to minimise associated risks and costs when using the fuel.
The AM water content analyser is an inline measurement device that can be installed directly to the methanol process piping, for example to the main bunker line with the flanged housing. The technology uses a sensor to analyse the concentration of water in the methanol.
The analyser comes in response to the growing uptake of methanol as a marine fuel to meet shipping’s decarbonisation targets. Water as a natural contaminant of methanol may be present in the bunkered methanol either by accident or intentionally. Water in fuel decreases the calorific heating value which increases bunkering costs. If the water content is too high, operators may have to unload the fuel, leading to delays and additional costs.
As an example, when a ro-ro vessel consumes 27,000t of green methanol in one year with an average price per ton of green methanol at €1,196, the operator of the vessel may avoid losses of up to €1,614,600 for 5% concentration of water as contaminant.
John Bergman, CEO Auramarine, said: “Methanol uptake is increasing across the industry due to its promising GHG emissions reduction credentials. At Auramarine, we’ve led the way in developing solutions that support the use of alternative fuels-starting with the industry’s first methanol fuel supply units in 2022. Now, with the launch of our AM water content analyser, we’re giving ship owners and operators the tools they need to take the next step in their energy transition and bunker methanol with greater confidence, and importantly, at a lower cost.”
Image: Auramarine helps operators detect water content in methanol fuel (source: Auramarine)
