ISO Publishes New Marine Fuel Specs, Paving Way for More Biofuels in Blend
by Ned Molloy (Platts) The International Organisation for Standardisation has launched a new class of marine fuel specifications to provide standards for higher quantities of biofuels to be blended into marine distillates, and making reporting of cloud point mandatory in their updated marine gasoil grades.
No changes have been made to residual fuel oil standards in the latest edition of ISO 8217, the global standard for marine fuels, that was last updated five years ago.
In the newly defined “class F” grades, up to 7% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) is allowed, a biodiesel which has several similar physical properties to conventional diesel, but is non-toxic and biodegradable.
This higher percentage will allow 10 ppm sulfur automotive diesel to be blended into the marine distillates pool, says Monique Vermeire, fuels technologist at Chevron, but speaking to S&P Global Platts in her capacity as convenor at the working group on ISO 8216/8217.
Biodiesel can make up to 7% of the blend in transport fuels in Europe currently as per EN 590. READ MORE and MORE (International Organisation for Standardisation)