RAPTECH’s technology supports cleaner, homogenized fuels and lower costs as well assustainable fuel strategies for shipping.
The marine bunkering industry faces stricter environmental rules, fuel diversification, and cost pressures. RAPTECH´s cavitation technology addresses these challenges by combining intense mixing with chemical reactivity, enabling stable emulsions, effective blending, desulfurization, and emission reduction. In parallel, IBIA (International Bunkering Industry Association) is advancing guidelines and initiatives that accelerate theuptake of alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol, biodiesel, and other renewable options.
This alignment between technological enablers and industry frameworks highlights the need for solutions that ensure stability, compatibility, and efficiency across a broad spectrum of marine fuels. Against this backdrop, this article outlines cavitation principles and applications in bunkering, showing how RAPTECH’s approach not only supports cleaner, homogenized fuels and lower costs, but also contributes to the industry’s transition toward sustainable and IBIA-oriented fuel strategies for shipping.
1. Challenges in the Bunkering Sector
Bunkering is in rapid transition. Since the IMO’s 2020 sulfur cap, new rules such as ISO8217:2024, carbon intensity indicators (CII/EEXI), and safety guidelines for alternative fuels have reshaped the sector. IBIA has influenced updateslike expanded biofuel blend allowances.
Operators now face three key challenges:
These shifts make bunkering both a logistical and technical task. Cavitation provides a solution by stabilizing blends, supporting desulfurization, and enhancing combustion performance.
2. Principles of Cavitation Technology
Cavitationis the controlled formation and collapse of microbubbles in liquids. Implosion releases localized heat, shear, and intense mixing. RAPTECH’s UADA system tunes these effects as an adjustable reactor, enabling:
3. Applications in Bunkering
3.1 Fuel Blending and Stability
The shift toward mixed fuels has raised concerns about compatibility and stability during storage. Cavitation ensures uniform dispersion of asphaltenes and heavy fractions, preventing phase separation. It also enables blending of conventional fuels with biofuels or pyrolysis oils, producing stable mixtures with improved combustion quality [1].
3.2 Fuel Desulfurization and Upgrading
Cavitation-assisted oxidation processes can facilitate the desulfurization of heavy fuels, reducing sulfur content before bunkering. This contributes to compliance with IMO sulfur limits and reduces the need for expensive post-combustion cleaning systems [2].
3.3 Catalyst Activation and Process Efficiency
In fuel treatment plants, cavitation can act as a catalyst activation method bydispersing and energizing catalytic particles. This shortens residence times and increases through put, offering advantages for large-scale bunkering hubs.
4. Case Outlook: RAPTECH’s Approach
RAPTECH has developed with CaviFlow® modular cavitation units that can be integrated (plug & play) into shore-based bunkering terminals, refineries, or on board units. The compact design and adjustable operating conditions allow flexible treatment of different marinefuels, aligning with both regulatory and economic requirements.
Reduce emissions – maintain systems
Cavitation technology provides the bunkering industry with a versatile and powerful tool to address its most pressing challenges: fuel diversity, regulatory compliance, cost control, and environmental sustainability. RAPTECH’s innovations show that cavitation is not only a mixing enhancer but a full-fledged reactor, capable of delivering cleaner fuels, better stability, and improved combustion performance. As the shipping industry transitionstoward low-carbon and alternative fuels, cavitation stands out as a bridge technology, supporting both current heavy fuels and tomorrow’s sustainable, IBIA-aligned marine energy solutions.
We look forward to your requirements. The Spirit of Cavitation.
Author: Dr. Ahmad Saylam | RAPTECH Eberswalde GmbH
References
[1] Abdelhameed, E.; Tashima, H. EGR and Emulsified Fuel Combination Effects onthe Combustion, Performance, and NOx Emissions in Marine Diesel Engines.Energies 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/en16010336.
[2] Hernandez Ponce, C. (2020). Modeling of Sulfur Removal from Heavy Fuel OilUsing Ultrasound-Assisted Oxidative Desulfurization. KAUST Research Repository.https://doi.org/10.25781/KAUST-7199J.
The marine bunkering industry faces stricter environmental rules, fuel diversification, and cost pressures. RAPTECH´s cavitation technology addresses these challenges by combining intense mixing with chemical reactivity, enabling stable emulsions, effective blending, desulfurization, and emission reduction. In parallel, IBIA (International Bunkering Industry Association) is advancing guidelines and initiatives that accelerate theuptake of alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol, biodiesel, and other renewable options.
This alignment between technological enablers and industry frameworks highlights the need for solutions that ensure stability, compatibility, and efficiency across a broad spectrum of marine fuels. Against this backdrop, this article outlines cavitation principles and applications in bunkering, showing how RAPTECH’s approach not only supports cleaner, homogenized fuels and lower costs, but also contributes to the industry’s transition toward sustainable and IBIA-oriented fuel strategies for shipping.
1. Challenges in the Bunkering Sector
Bunkering is in rapid transition. Since the IMO’s 2020 sulfur cap, new rules such as ISO8217:2024, carbon intensity indicators (CII/EEXI), and safety guidelines for alternative fuels have reshaped the sector. IBIA has influenced updateslike expanded biofuel blend allowances.
Operators now face three key challenges:
- Fuel diversification: Handling VLSFO, MGO, biofuels, pyrolysis oils, and synthetics in one chain
- Stability risks: Avoiding incompatibility, stratification, and storage issues
- Compliance pressures: Meeting SOx, NOx, and carbon limits while controlling costs
These shifts make bunkering both a logistical and technical task. Cavitation provides a solution by stabilizing blends, supporting desulfurization, and enhancing combustion performance.
2. Principles of Cavitation Technology
Cavitationis the controlled formation and collapse of microbubbles in liquids. Implosion releases localized heat, shear, and intense mixing. RAPTECH’s UADA system tunes these effects as an adjustable reactor, enabling:
- Homogenization of multi-component fuels
- Enhanced chemical reactions (oxidation, desulfurization, stabilization)
- Formation of fine, stable emulsions
3. Applications in Bunkering
3.1 Fuel Blending and Stability
The shift toward mixed fuels has raised concerns about compatibility and stability during storage. Cavitation ensures uniform dispersion of asphaltenes and heavy fractions, preventing phase separation. It also enables blending of conventional fuels with biofuels or pyrolysis oils, producing stable mixtures with improved combustion quality [1].
3.2 Fuel Desulfurization and Upgrading
Cavitation-assisted oxidation processes can facilitate the desulfurization of heavy fuels, reducing sulfur content before bunkering. This contributes to compliance with IMO sulfur limits and reduces the need for expensive post-combustion cleaning systems [2].
3.3 Catalyst Activation and Process Efficiency
In fuel treatment plants, cavitation can act as a catalyst activation method bydispersing and energizing catalytic particles. This shortens residence times and increases through put, offering advantages for large-scale bunkering hubs.
4. Case Outlook: RAPTECH’s Approach
RAPTECH has developed with CaviFlow® modular cavitation units that can be integrated (plug & play) into shore-based bunkering terminals, refineries, or on board units. The compact design and adjustable operating conditions allow flexible treatment of different marinefuels, aligning with both regulatory and economic requirements.
Reduce emissions – maintain systems
Cavitation technology provides the bunkering industry with a versatile and powerful tool to address its most pressing challenges: fuel diversity, regulatory compliance, cost control, and environmental sustainability. RAPTECH’s innovations show that cavitation is not only a mixing enhancer but a full-fledged reactor, capable of delivering cleaner fuels, better stability, and improved combustion performance. As the shipping industry transitionstoward low-carbon and alternative fuels, cavitation stands out as a bridge technology, supporting both current heavy fuels and tomorrow’s sustainable, IBIA-aligned marine energy solutions.
We look forward to your requirements. The Spirit of Cavitation.
Author: Dr. Ahmad Saylam | RAPTECH Eberswalde GmbH
References
[1] Abdelhameed, E.; Tashima, H. EGR and Emulsified Fuel Combination Effects onthe Combustion, Performance, and NOx Emissions in Marine Diesel Engines.Energies 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/en16010336.
[2] Hernandez Ponce, C. (2020). Modeling of Sulfur Removal from Heavy Fuel OilUsing Ultrasound-Assisted Oxidative Desulfurization. KAUST Research Repository.https://doi.org/10.25781/KAUST-7199J.
