Quadrise Fuels International plc (QFI) says it has received Wartsila's
interim inspection report
covering the use of QFI's MSAR emulsion fuel in its
RT-flex two-stroke diesel engines.
The news follows
last month's receipt of an interim letter of no objection (LONO) by Wartsila which, according to QFI, confirmed that MSAR fuel had "
satisfactorily completed"
1,370 hours of a 4,000 hours validation test - including
139 hours in continuous operation - on board the Maersk vessel Seago Istanbul equipped with a Wartsila 12RT-flex96C-B engine.
"This concludes the process of obtaining the supporting information related to the marine operational and LONO trial with Maersk," QFI said on Tuesday.
"QFI will continue to use the knowledge gained from the Maersk trial in conjunction with its in-house and third party research to further enhance the Company's offering to the marine and power markets," the company added.
Commenting on the latest development,
Mike Kirk, Executive Chairman, said: "I am pleased that we have been able to obtain the Interim Inspection Report relating to the Marine Operational and LONO trial and we will be using this to further enhance our existing business development activities - which are not reliant on any continuing collaboration with Maersk."
Kirk explained that
the company would not be publishing the inspection report, but would be making a summary available at a later date.
QFI also reiterated its belief that the marine industry will adopt the use of exhaust gas cleaning systems and high-sulphur heavy fuel as the most economic compliance option for the upcoming 0.5 percent global sulphur cap in 2020.
MSAR fuel has so far been supplied with a sulphur content higher than 0.5 percent (thus, it would need to be used together with a scrubber in 2020), but QFI has previously not discounted the prospect of working with refiners or suppliers to produce a MSAR fuel with a sulphur content lower than the 0.5 percent limit.
Image: Mike Kirk, Executive Chairman of Quadrise Fuels International.
