Cylinder Oil Feed Rate News

After running on minimum feed rate for years, Hansa Shipping’s containership HS Debussy is expected to exceed 50,000 running hours without piston overhaul at present operation conditions. With the help of Lukoil Marine Lubricants’ Navigo 70 MCL cylinder oil, Hamburg-based shipping company Hansa Shipping has achieved benefits for their HS Debussy: The vessel’s engine has been running on minimum feed rate for years and is expected to exceed 50,000 running hours without piston overhaul.

One of the most effective and easiest fuel reduction operations is reducing the engine power by reducing the speed of a vessel. Out of the total operational costs of a vessel, fuel costs account for, by far, the highest proportion. When fuel prices soared, the technical experts of one of the world’s biggest shipping companies set about to solve the problem, and slowing down was the solution they devised. By 2009 significant fuel savings resulted from sailing its ships at 12 knots instead of 24, and ”Slow Steaming” officially became the standard operating procedure in their fleet.

Concerns over corrosive wear risk in cross-head engines led Castrol Marine to question the rigour of some widely used scavenge drain oil analysis (SDA ) techniques. Factors influencing scavenge drain oil characteristics include fuel sulphur level, cylinder oil BN level, system oil contamination and operating profile. Accuracy is critical in SDA interpretation, not least because it supports feed-rate assumptions that are critical to cylinder oil performance, Castrol said. “It is not possible to analyze results accurately without comprehensive knowledge of the fuel oil, the new and used system oil, feed rates and operational data collected from the engine at the time of sampling,” said Paul Harrold, Castrol Marine Technology Manager.

Castrol Marine has extended its cylinder oil range to address concerns about engine damage and performance as slow steaming and fuel sulphur content restrictions bite. The specialized marine lubricant supplier has launched Cyltech 80 AW, an 80 BN (base number) cylinder oil. The Cyltech range has been developed for optimum engine protection in 2-stroke crosshead engines and specifically to match engine performance with the demands of varying sulphur fuels and the impact of slow steaming.

Drawing on OEM reports and its own engine performance tests, Castrol Marine has strengthened its conviction that optimum performance, when slow steaming, can only be achieved by having a range of cylinder oils available for the customer. content and low feed-rates. to those vessels regularly slow steaming, to ensure piston ring packs and liners remain in excellent condition. “The idea of a single, mid range cylinder oil solution for all vessels as sulphur limits are reduced may be seductive…

Engineers from Athens-based Danaos Shipping together with ExxonMobil, reportedly extended the overhaul interval required for a piston in a DOOSAN-MAN B&W 12-cylinder K98MC-C engine from 16,000 hours to 42,575 hours. A recent overhaul revealed that cylinder number 11 was in remarkably good condition, with a negligible liner wear rate. The achievement took place aboard the containership MV CSCL Europe, which is chartered to China Shipping Container Lines. Representatives from Danaos Shipping and ExxonMobil systematically monitored the condition of the engine throughout the overhauling process.

Engineers from Athens-based Danaos Shipping together with ExxonMobil, have reportedly extended the overhaul interval required for a piston in a DOOSAN-MAN B&W 12-cylinder K98MC-C engine from 16,000 hours to 42,575 hours. A recent overhaul revealed that cylinder number 11 was in remarkably good condition, with a negligible liner wear rate. The achievement took place aboard the containership MV CSCL Europe, which is chartered to China Shipping Container Lines. Representatives from…

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has warned its members of the dangers arising from the failure on the part of some suppliers to put authentic sulphur content results on Bunker Delivery Receipts. IBIA chief executive Ian Adams said, “Clearly this is not in compliance with MARPOL requirements and may create a problem for shipowners in terms of the selection of correct feed rates and Total Base Numbers (TBN) of cylinder oil. “Knowing the sulphur content of the fuel to be used is essential to engine efficiency and overall safety, and furthermore necessary to remain within the specific requirements applicable in Emissions Control Areas (ECAs).

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Wärtsilä Corporation of will jointly develop new small, low-speed marine diesel engines with cylinder bores of 350 and 400 millimeters (mm). The two companies agreed on joint design and development of engines of less than 450 mm cylinder bore in May 2008, based on a previously signed strategic alliance agreement. The new engines, to have a power range of 3,500–9,000 kW, will be developed in collaboration, taking advantage of the strengths of the two companies.

ExxonMobil introduced a program to optimize cylinder oil feed rates in low-speed (crosshead) diesel engines. The "Feed Rate Optimization" program is designed to help minimize operating expenses by analyzing scrapedown oil as a way to detect changes in the condition of an engine¹s cylinders. The program, which is designed to help customers find a balance between the cost of cylinder oil and the expense of wear-related cylinder maintenance, analyzes scrapedown oil collected from the engine’s scavenge space, a technique pioneered by ExxonMobil. It is designed to provide comprehensive laboratory testing and analysis of the oil sample, and offers onboard testing tools that enable ship’s engineers to quickly detect substantive changes in cylinder condition.

Wärtsilä Corporation has introduced a new, electronically-controlled cylinder lubricating system to meet the demand for lower cylinder oil feed rates: the Pulse Lubricating System (PLS). Developed for application in Wärtsilä RTA and RT-flex low-speed marine diesel engines, it delivers reduced cylinder oil consumption without compromising piston-running reliability. The Pulse Lubricating System makes it possible to reduce the cylinder oil feed rate compared with the existing accumulator system through an improved distribution of cylinder lubricating oil to the cylinder liner, and the fully flexible, precise timing of oil delivery.