ExxonMobil: Flow Meters are "Bringing Bunkering into the 21st Century"

Iain White, Field Marketing Manager, ExxonMobil Marine Fuels & Lubricants

Mass flow meters are "bringing bunkering into the 21st century," according to Iain White, Field Marketing Manager at ExxonMobil Marine Fuels & Lubricants (ExxonMobil).

This week he spoke to Ship & Bunker following the supplier's recent approval of mass flow metering systems on board two more of its chartered bunker tankers in Singapore.

In June 2012 ExxonMobil became the first bunker supplier to use a mass flow metering system approved by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), and White told Ship & Bunker the company's decision to adopt the technology was part of its commitment to apply technology wherever it can to create better bunkering solutions.

"We can measure accurately the old way, but you have to be rigorous and it's time consuming," said White.

"A flow meter not only ensures you get the volume of fuel paid for, but compared to tank gauging it can save you up to three hours. On a bunkers only call that's a significant amount of time."

The Challenges of Bunkering

Although mass flow meter technology has been available for some time, White said until recently it has been challenging to use as part of the bunkering process.

"Not only are you delivering high volumes, but the vessel is a moving platform and you have to deal with factors such as vibration," he said.

"There's also the challenge of a two phase flow - the fact that it is a varying mixture of both oil and air."

Known as the "cappuccino effect", excessive amounts of entrained air in bunkers can cause them to foam up to the point where it is difficult to quantify the delivery volume using traditional methods, potentially leading to the customer getting less fuel than they paid for.

White said the mass flow metering systems help to prevent the issues caused by cappuccino bunkers because they continuously monitor density, so in addition to correctly measuring the actual volume of delivered bunkers, the density drop caused by excess air would be identified and recorded.

Not Just a Meter

White noted that a key part of adopting flow meters has involved working with the MPA.

"It's not just a meter," said White. "What we've done is define a process by working with the MPA, SPRING (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board), and weights and measures."

"We establish the meters are accurate, and then we seal the whole system. So they give accurate results, and the whole process is transparent."

For 2012 ExxonMobil was ranked sixth on the MPA's list of top 20 suppliers by volume, having slipped from second to third in 2011.

White said he couldn't comment on how adopting the mass flow meters might help ExxonMobil's market share in the world's biggest bunkering port, but said being an early adopter of the technology was about offering an improved solution for bunker buyers.

"It's all part of our commitment to quality, reliability, and integrity," said White.

"It's the next step as we apply technology to making sure the customer can see what they're paying for. We hope that customers will take that on board and buy from us."

Looking ahead, White said it was hard to say when and how many other suppliers would adopt the technology, if at all, but in September MPA told Ship & bunker that in the future it intends to make the use of mass flow meters mandatory in Singapore.