Kerylynn Krahforst, Battelle Memorial Institute, 397 Washington Street, Duxbury, MA 02332, Tel: 781-952-5250, Fax: 781-934-2124, Email: Krahforstk@Battelle.org
Philip W. Beall, Battelle Memorial Institute, 723 Main Street, Suite 705, Houston, TX 77002, Tel: 713-222-2206, Fax: 713-222-8959, Email: Beallp@Battelle.org
William G. Steinhauer, Battelle Memorial Institute, 397 Washington Street, Duxbury, MA 02332, Tel: 781-952-5319, Fax: 781-934-2124, Email: Steinhauer@Battelle.org
Yakov Galperin, Battelle Memorial Institute, 397 Washington Street, Duxbury, MA 02332, Tel: 805-529-4423, Fax: 805-523-2074, Email: Galperiny@Battelle.org

Complex inter-related issues of origin, fate and transport of hydrocarbon chemical contaminants are best addressed when site assessment data are integrated with an area’s operational and regulatory history. This approach is illustrated in the case study involving a former bulk fuel storage facility. Two major contaminant plumes exist at the site: a NAPL plume at the eastern area and a dissolved phase hydrocarbon plume at the northwestern end of the site. The application of the chemical and process forensics methodology allowed us to determine that the NAPL consisted of a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline. Chemical characteristics of contaminants revealed that multiple historical releases of hydrocarbon fuels have contributed to the NAPL plume. The dissolved phase plume predominantly consisted of modern formulations of gasoline. The distribution patterns of key hydrocarbon parameters and presence of a boutique oxygenated blending agent points to a specific off-site source of the contamination.

Chemical Heterogeneity Among Marine Bunker Fuels

Scott A. Stout, NewFields, 100 Ledgewood Place, Suite 302, Rockland, MA 02370, Tel: 781- 681-5040, Fax: 781-681-5048, Email: sstout@newfields.com
Gregory S. Douglas, NewFields, 100 Ledgewood Place, Suite 302, Rockland, MA 02370, Tel: 781- 681-5040, Fax: 781-681-5048, Email: gdouglas@newfields.com
Allen D. Uhler, NewFields, 100 Ledgewood Place, Suite 302, Rockland, MA 02370, Tel: 781- 681-5040, Fax: 781-681-5048, Email: auhler@newfields.com

Bunker fuel is the term that collectively refers to the family of fuel oils used to power marine vessels.  The term ‘bunker’ is derived from the fact that these fuels are stored, or ‘bunkered’, in the ship’s massive fuel tanks and in storage tanks at most ports around the world.  

Bunker fuels are produced from ‘leftovers’ from the crude oil refining process.   In the past, this primarily included the non-distillable residuum from the atmospheric distillation process.   Most refiners now also utilize vacuum distillation that ‘squeezes’ even more desirable, lighter products from atmospheric distillation residuum.  The residuum from vacuum distillation, often termed flasher bottoms, is the primary feedstock in the production of modern bunker fuels.  As the sophistication of the refining process increases to include additional steps aimed at squeezing more profit from residuums (e.g., visbreaking, coking), the quality of the bunker fuel feedstock is reduced leading to the need to blend other lower boiling residuals (e.g., cat-cracked gas oil) order to achieve bunker fuel specifications.  Though considered controversial, it is also not uncommon for low levels of used automotive and marine crankcase lubricating oil to be blended into bunker fuels as a means of disposal.

The specifications of bunker fuels permit refiners considerable latitude in the manufacturing of on-spec bunker fuels.   Because no two refineries operate identically, and because bunker fuel blending depends upon the current operating and economic considerations at a given refinery at a given time, the specific nature of the bunker fuels is highly variable.  In this poster, we have reviewed the chemical compositional data for a large number of marine bunker fuels that demonstrates their heterogeneous chemical characteristics.   The available data includes the general chemical composition and boiling/carbon range distributions as determined by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC/FID) “fingerprinting”, as well as the concentration of parent and alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as determined by modified EPA Method 8270.   The objective of compiling these data is to provide that may aid in better predicting the environmental fate and ecological impacts of bunker fuels released into the environment.

Top