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Seta Analytics, a leading supplier of marine fuel testing equipment and a division of Stanhope-Seta, has welcomed the proposal by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) to include liquid phase testing of Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) using IP 570 in the revised marine fuel specification ISO 8217.

The revised ISO 8217 fuel standard proposes a maximum 2.00 parts per million (mg/kg) of H2S in marine bunker fuel to reflect the significant and potentially fatal risk that the chemical poses to the health of seafarers, operators at ports and terminals and ships inspectors.

Seta Analytics R&D Director Mike Sherratt commented: “Seafarers on merchant ships and on bunker supply barges are potentially at risk from Hydrogen Sulphide present in bunker fuel. Hydrogen Sulphide is highly toxic and poses a hazard to crews as well as to port workers.

“We believe the ISO introduction of an H2S limit is an important step in the right direction using recognition liquid phase testing methods to identify H2S levels. H2S has long been acknowledged as a safety risk, however traditional tests may not be able to detect low levels of H2S and therefore not enable evaluation of whether it might be released from the fuel during onboard storage and handling.

Lloyd’s Register FOBAS worked with Seta Analytics to develop the H2S Analyser [pictured] as a more precise and easier to use test method and a means of improving health, safety and environmental standards within the shipping industry. The adoption of a limit based on a liquid phase measurement recognises that the key point is to assess the latent potential of H2S being released from the fuel during onboard storage, transfer or heating.

IP 399, the current test method for measuring H2S in the liquid phase, involves laboratory analysis and a potentially long wait for results – often until after the vessel should have begun its voyage. The H2S Analyser is portable and can be used prior to loading of the fuel, in a procedure performed by the crew or a bunker supplier. Results can be generated in as little as 15 minutes with accuracy down to 0.4 ppm levels. All grades of fuel can be tested, including distillates.

“The H2S issue is important to all stakeholders in the marine Industry; from oil majors and fuel testing companies, to bunker suppliers and shipowners. But fundamentally, testing fuel for permitted H2S content at point of delivery demonstrates a duty of care to seafarers – something that ISO has recognised with the proposed amendment to the 8217 specification,” Seta Analytics said.

H2S can accumulate in the headspaces of cargo storage tanks and marine fuel bunker tanks which is dependent on storage time, elevated temperature and agitation. Seta Analytics says the key issue is to measure the potential that a fuel could have to release H2S over a period of time under conditions when that fuel is transferred, heated or agitated by the rolling action of the ship.

Seta Analytics added that H2S has also been shown to corrode pipelines, storage tanks and other components, causing service delays and interruptions including engine breakdowns, the cost of which could be potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.