Oil Analysis Program News

With a motto of Always Ready, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has 11 missions specified by law including drug and migrant interdiction; ports, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. The USCG’s newest ships including 22 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) recently entered service with 36 more on order and six new National Security Cutters (NSCs) with two more in the process of being built. Oil analysis plays a critical role in the…

Volvo Penta today announced a new extended service interval for its commercial marine diesel engines. “We recognize that minimizing downtime is a critical requirement for commercial marine operators,” said Marcia Kull, Vice President-Marine Sales, for Volvo Penta of the Americas. Volvo Penta launched its oil analysis program in 2014 to make it easy to obtain expert diagnostics of engine oil. A factory authorized oil analysis provides a basic driveline health check yielding a wealth of information on what’s happening inside an engine. Oil samples are sent to a Volvo Penta authorized laboratory, where technicians perform a rigorous full-spectrum analysis. The laboratory sends back a complete report by email within 24-48 hours with recommendations for actions.

Selection of gear oil for marine thrusters or a stern tube lubricant for use with propeller shaft bearings is often based on analyzing price/performance characteristics of the lubricant and its availability. Now with the implementation of the 2013 Vessel General Permit, this analysis must be expanded to include environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs) that meet the new EPA standards. To meet environmental requirements, EALs are blended from base oils other than mineral oil. They still meet the same lubricant objective – providing long-term equipment protection.

January 1, 2015 is an important date for ship owner and operators to ensure that their vessels, when operating inside ECA zones, are doing so in compliance with strict new emission edicts concerning the emission of sulfur. – to discuss some of the technical and logistical matters you must consider. The move to low sulfur fuels is well recorded, but from your point of view, describe the situation that ship owners face regarding fuel selection and cylinder lubrication come January 1, 2015?

Volvo Penta of the Americas is offering customers an Oil Analysis Program designed to make it easy to obtain expert diagnostics of engine oil. The program is available for all Volvo Penta diesel and gas engines. Engine oil analysis provides a basic driveline “health check” for an engine, yielding a wealth of information on what’s going on inside. With this information, you can plan your maintenance more effectively and reduce the risk of unplanned downtime and repair expenses. The process is fast and easy. Collect your oil sample and send it to a Volvo Penta laboratory.

In any given lubricant (such as engine oil, transmission fluid or gear oil), there are three main factors that influence the “useful life” of the lubricant:  Viscosity Stability, Oxidation, and Contamination. While it is important to understand how these factors affect oil life, it is equally important to realize that none of these factors can be measured or monitored except through a thorough and ongoing oil analysis program. Viscosity - First, let’s examine the oil property known as “Viscosity.”  Viscosity is defined as resistance of an oil to flow at a given temperature.

The company has started cooperation with leading brands in Marine Lubricants to provide a full range of lubricant grades to customers, and will look to target further sales to specific target prospects on a worldwide basis. The Marine Lubricants Division will be headquartered in Piraeus, and led by Stathis Grafakos, who has years of experience in the lubricants business. Further offices will be rolled out on a global basis over the coming months. The company will provide a full range of quality marine lubricant grades in cooperation with leading brands in marine lubricants…

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.

marine propulsion. changes in the condition of an engine¹s cylinders. technique pioneered by ExxonMobil. cylinder condition. Lubricants. maintenance and operating costs. . Signum Oil Analysis. before they occur, to include scrapedown testing. scrapedown oil. . Onboard testing. quickly analyze the current wear rate of each cylinder. engine's operating condition. . Quality oil. engine deposit and wear. rates are adopted. major engine manufacturers, including MAN B&W and Wärtsilä. onboard sample analysis is employed,² says Kjeld E. engineering services, MAN B&W Diesel A/S.

NorShipping 2001, held in Oslo, Norway in early June, once again proved to be a dynamic exhibition complete with some of the more influential personnel in the marine business on-hand for the week long event. As usual, marine manufacturers used the platform of NorShipping to launch new products, systems and services to the international market, some of which is detailed in the following report. Wärtsilä Corp., the ubiquitous propulsion system manufacturer announced that it had received a contact to supply the complete marine power system for the first of a series of environmentally safe 40,000-dwt chemical/product tankers building at the San Marco shipyard in Italy. For the 40,000-dwt tankers, Wärtsilä will be just that, as it is responsible for the complete functionality of the system.

Mobil Corporation has added various upgrades to its Web site for the marine industry - allowing visitors to learn about the global Progressive Fast Analysis (PFA) used-oil analysis program. The site, which includes video clips about Mobil Marine's capabilities and articles about the company's performance also enables visitors to electronically contact PFA Center engineers with questions.