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SulNox patent win targets ships’ slops

SulNOx, the green decarbonisation company helping industry reduce emissions, lower fuel costs and meet sustainability targets, is pleased to announce an important patent win in Nigeria, its first in the significant fuel oil reclamation market.

The new patent protects an improved oil / water separation methodology developed by SulNOx, incorporating its already patented Berol 6446 product. It offers considerable potential for tackling the marine industry’s perennial problem of “ships’ slops”, a hydrocarbon-rich industrial waste produced in various parts of a ship’s operations, including tank cleaning, purifying fuels and use of ballast water.

Slops typically contain around 70% water in what would otherwise be useful heavy fuel oil (HFO). Traditional separation processes often require high heating temperatures and long separation times to allow gravity to drag out the water from the oil in a separation tank. Often, the HFO recovered can still contain significant amounts of water (5% and above) which reduce its value.

Augmenting an existing separation plant with the SulNOx process brings the following outcomes:

· Separation reduces a typical process of 10-12 hours to approximately three, allowing higher processing capability for an existing plant

· Lower temperatures are required, leading to savings on heating and a lower CO2 footprint

· Water recovered is cleaner and may be disposed of easily

· Oil recovered has typically less than 1.5% water content, meaning added value and saleability

Slops are a feature of ship operations in ports worldwide. Growth in the wider market for eco-friendly demulsifiers, used to separate water from fuel oil, is supported by environmental regulation and a corporate imperative to adopt more sustainable practices.

The global demulsifier market is estimated to grow from US$2.4bn in 2024 to approximately US$3.2bn by 2031 (Source: VMR).

SulNOX’s growing portfolio of patents already includes the US, Europe, Eurasia, Georgia, South Africa, China, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

They cover a range of formulation versions which includes both the Berol® 6446 Heavy Sulphur Fuel Oils (HSFO) emulsifiers and SulNOxEco™ Fuel Conditioners which enhance all diesel, petrol/gasoline and biofuels, and marine fuels including Marine Gas Oil (MGO) and Marine Diesel Oil (MDO), Very and Ultra Low Sulphur Fuel Oils (VLSFO/ULSFO) and HSFO.

Ben Richardson, CEO of SulNOx, commented:

“This new patent and its different scope mark three important advances for SulNOx: our first intellectual property gained in fuel reclamation; an opportunity in the global maritime industry for tackling the specific area of slops; and greater recognition in Nigeria, which remains a key element of our strategy for Africa, and where we recently began collaborating with a distributor to deploy our products across a range of industries. All of these improve SulNOx’s prospects for revenue development. We look forward to announcing further expansion of our patent portfolio as we target new sectors and markets worldwide.”

SulNOx shares have more than quadrupled over 12 months, boosted by a growing list of shipping related investors including EPS owner Idan Ofer, Contantine Logothetis, Norway’s Nistad, McQilling of the US, and Greenbull, co-founded by former Vitol star trader Nick Mahoney.

The company’s organic fuel additive is gaining traction in shipping, mining and other heavy industries under pressure to cut emissions, meet regulatory targets and reduce fuel consumption. Major maritime operators Teekay, Spring Marine and Marfin have been early users, attracted by a zero-capex, immediate transition solution while longer term green solutions are explored.

On land, a key generator trial recently showed fuel consumption lowered by 15%, while emissions were slashed.
Source: SulNOX

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