A method for assessing of ship fuel system failures resulting from fuel changeover imposed by environmental requirements

Abstract

Environmental regulations instigated the technological and procedural revolution in shipping. One of the challenges has been sulfur emission control areas (SECA) and requirement of fuel changeover. Initially, many reports anticipated that new grades of low sulfur fuels might increase various technical problems in ship operation. This research develops a simple and easy to use method of the failure severity and intensity assessment in relation to fuel changeover. The scale of failure rate in the ship’s fuel system was evaluated qualitatively and quantitively, using developed failure frequency indicator and the time between failure. Based on 77 records of fuel system failures collected on seven ships, it has been found that frequency of failures related to SECA fuel changeover is on average nearly three times higher compared to the rest of sailing time. Their severity did not significantly change, but the structure of failures changed considerably. The method and presented results may help in improvement of ship’s systems design and on-board operational procedures.

Particles Morphology of Mechanically Generated Oil Mist Mixtures of SAE 40 Grade Lubricating Oil with Diesel Oil in the Context of Explosion Risk in the Crankcase of a Marine Engine

“…The viscosity was lowered to avoid this damage, as in residual fuel injection systems, to the level recommended by the engine/injection equipment manufacturer. For marine and industrial engines, the recommended fuel viscosity (for high-viscosity fuels at a reference temperature of 50 • C [87][88][89]) should be 10-15 mm 2 /s, which requires heating the fuel fed into the engine (the so-called viscosity control system) [64,65]. To maintain similar injection conditions for all samples during mechanical generation, the maximum oil viscosity fed into the atomizer should not exceed 20 mm 2 /s, and the average kinematic viscosity of all tested samples should be ~11 mm 2 /s (viscosity deviations from the average should not be greater than ±9 mm 2 /s).…”

Arrhenius Equation for Calculating Viscosity in Assessing the Dilution Level of Lubricating Oil with Diesel Oil—A Case Study of SAE 30 and SAE 40 Grade Marine Lubricating Oils

“…One of the threats that may occur during the operation of marine piston combustion engines is the deterioration of lubrication conditions, which is influenced by the design [1][2][3] and technical condition of the engine [4][5][6], and type of oil [7][8][9] and fuel [10][11][12] with which the engine is powered. There are many research results devoted to assessing the efficiency and reliability of internal combustion engines with contaminated circulating lubricating oil (LO) [13][14][15], including fuel-diluted lube oil (both distillation and residual) [16][17][18].…”

Assessment of the Impact of Lubricating Oil Contamination by Biodiesel on Trunk Piston Engine Reliability

“…Crankcase explosions in trunk pistons and crosshead engines still occur; thus, the subject remains topical [1]. The possibility of contamination of the lubricating oil with the fuel supplying the engine primarily applies to trunk piston engines [2], where the combustion chambers are directly separated from the crankcase by piston rings [3]. Damage to the rings results in exhaust gas, air, and fuel blowing into the crankcase.…”