Shipping and Heating TDAE: A Practical Handling Guide

Most process oil handling problems are not quality problems. They are planning problems — a cargo that arrives correctly specified, on time, and then sits in a container at the port because nobody checked whether it would still be liquid.

TDAE is particularly prone to this because the grade range is so wide. Across a typical product line, kinematic viscosity at 40 °C runs from around 108 mm²/s at the light end to over 818 mm²/s at the heavy end, and pour points span from roughly −24 °C to above +14 °C. Those two ends of the range are, operationally, completely different products. If you are new to the grade itself, start with what TDAE is.

The grade determines everything

Note the pattern, because it surprises people: pour point does not rise monotonically with viscosity. T820 is far heavier than T350 but has a much lower pour point. The two properties come from different aspects of the oil's composition, so both have to be checked independently. Reading only the viscosity, or only the pour point, will eventually catch you out.

Two separate constraints

Pour point tells you whether the oil will flow at all. A cargo below its pour point is a solid block, and no pump will move it. For a grade with a pour point at +14 °C, that means anything below roughly 20 °C ambient is a problem — which covers most of Europe, northern China, and Korea for much of the year, and any winter transit even on a tropical route.

Viscosity tells you whether it will flow usefully. An oil can be technically above its pour point and still be far too thick to discharge in reasonable time. This is what catches out heavy grades like T820: pour point around −13 °C looks comfortable, but at 25 °C the oil is still extremely viscous and pumping it through a standard discharge line will take an impractical amount of time.

The working rule is to plan discharge temperature 20–30 °C above the grade's pour point, and then sanity-check the viscosity at that temperature against your pumping capability. For heavy grades, the viscosity check, not the pour point, is what sets the target.

Choosing packaging

Drums (200 L) suit trial volumes and any grade where the buyer lacks bulk receiving capability. Heavy grades in drums can be warmed in a hot room or with drum heaters, which is slower than tank heating but requires no infrastructure. Cost per tonne is highest, but for a 20–40 MT qualification order that premium is usually worth the flexibility.

Flexitank is the cheapest bulk mode per tonne for light and mid grades on intra-Asia routes. It is generally unsuitable for heavy grades, because a flexitank cannot be heated in transit and discharge relies on gravity and ambient temperature. Always specify new, oil-rated single-use bags — never a refilled one.

Heated ISO tank is the correct answer for heavy grades and for any shipment into a cooler destination. It allows temperature to be maintained or raised before discharge, and its steel construction tolerates the heating that flexitanks cannot. The premium over flexitank is real but small compared with the cost of a cargo that cannot be discharged.

Bulk vessel applies at parcel sizes beyond container economics, with heated tank arrangements handled as part of the charter.

Practical planning points

Check the destination climate, not just the origin. A grade that ships comfortably from Port Klang in August may arrive at a northern Chinese port in January and need heating that nobody arranged. The pour point matters at the coldest point of the journey, not the warmest.

Confirm the receiving facility can heat. Sending a heated ISO tank to a buyer with no steam or electrical heating connection solves nothing. This is worth establishing in the first commercial conversation, not at the port.

Plan heating time realistically. Bringing a full ISO tank of heavy grade up to discharge temperature is a matter of many hours, sometimes over a day depending on the heating method and starting temperature. Demurrage clocks do not pause for it.

Avoid overheating. Excessive or prolonged heating degrades the oil, darkens it, and in extreme cases affects its performance in the compound. Heat to the discharge temperature required, not beyond it.

Get the pour point on the batch COA. Typical properties sheets give grade-average values. Actual batches vary, and on a grade sitting near ambient pour point, a few degrees of variance is the difference between a routine discharge and a stuck container.

What to specify when you order

For any TDAE enquiry, the information that lets a supplier get the logistics right is short: grade, quantity, destination port, expected arrival month, and whether your facility has heating capability. Supplying those five items upfront avoids the most common failure mode in this trade — the right oil arriving in the wrong form to be used. Grade-by-grade properties are listed on the SANYANG TDAE Series product page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sanyang Petroleum supplies the SANYANG TDAE Series (grades T100–T1200) in heated ISO tank, flexitank, 200 L drums and bulk, ex-Port Klang and Singapore, with batch-specific COAs including pour point and viscosity by grade. Contact info@sanyangpetroleum.com or submit an RFQ.