(COPENHAGEN, Denmark) — "System Oil by Blending on Board" is a new whitepaper that explores the many benefits for system oil that are conferred by Maersk Fluid Technology’s SEA-Mate blending-on-board (BOB) system.
The paper details how BOB – developed in-house by the A.P. Moller subsidiary as a means of producing cylinder lubricant suited to different fuel types and engine operation modes for crosshead two-stroke engines – has even more benefits for the engine’s system oil. BOB significantly improves the system oil making the engine more efficient and reducing fuel consumption. The consequent reduction in exhaust emissions is also beneficial to the environment.
System oil cools and lubricates essential engine components. It is as well used as hydraulic oil for operating and controlling engine components and systems, fuel injection equipment, exhaust valves and turbochargers. Under normal circumstances, the system oil degrades in the time between system oil changes; becoming thicker, losing its detergent characteristics and becoming contaminated by wear particles and possibly by leakage from the upper cylinder through the piston stuffing box.
When BOB is employed to produce cylinder lubricating oil from the in-use system oil and an appropriate high BN oil product, the engine’s system oil is constantly replenished with fresh clean oil and therefore the protection and efficient operating of the engine is continually maintained.
The whitepaper also details the financial savings as a result of lower maintenance and less use of the system oil cleaning system and separator. With BOB, annual savings on a small bore two-stroke main engine is in the range of $20,000 to $40,000, and for a medium- to large-bore engine as much as $40,000 to $90,000.
Since the concept was developed in 2008, MFT initially supplied BOB systems to vessels in the Maersk fleets. It is now available to all shipowners.
The full whitepaper is available for download from the Maersk Fluid Technology website by clicking here.
