Reliable lubrication of low speed engines operated with varying fuel sulphur levels
For the past several decades, the marine industry has been a conservative environment with very little changes in legislations and engine design. By the end of previous century, however, the demands for more engine power, coupled with increased environmental awareness, have triggered tremendous changes in this industry segment. Recent and upcoming emission legislation requires the use of low sulphur fuel oil in environmentally sensitive areas. This triggers the need to have multiple high quality cylinder oil grades available to tackle the changing fuel market. Thus, the selection of the correct cylinder oil to optimize engine lubrication is more important than ever. By extensive research on the operation of marine engines, Chevron has developed tools to operate marine diesel engines reliably, even when dealing with high variations in fuel quality. Traditionally, drip oil analysis (also called piston underside analysis) has been used to determine the optimum lubrication parameters to operate a lowspeed marine engine. These optimum parameters are achieved by varying the base number (BN) or alkalinity level of the lubricant, or by adjusting the amount of oil injected to match the sulphuric acid present in the combustion chamber. The appetite for alkalinity, is an indication of the corrosion sensitivity of the engine, and can vary substantially between different engine types. Every engine has a point at which oil feed rate becomes insufficient, and where iron, an indication of ongoing corrosion and wear, starts to increase. Traditionally, a measured drop in BN was used to determine this point; however, with marine fuels not containing any sulphur becoming more commonplace, BN is no longer a suitable tool to determine optimum lubrication. Chevron has accumulated a vast database which contains more than 15000 samples, taken under a wide variety of engines, fuels and operating conditions. This paper will report the findings on research performed on marine engine oil performance under a wide range of residual and distillate fuels.
Luc Verbeeke Marc De Weerdt Rudy Sanders Rik Truijens
Chevron,Belgium
国际会议
上海
英文
1-8
2013-05-13（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）