Maersk Fluid Technology (MFT) has hailed a recent influx of orders for their SEA-Mate® Blending-on-Board (BOB) system as confirmation of industry demand for technological solutions that enable ship operators to blend fit-for-purpose cylinder lubricant compositions on board their vessels that match actual engine operating conditions and fuel sulphur levels.
The use of this type of technology can reduce cylinder oil consumption and alleviate issues such as cold corrosion and excessive cylinder wear. It can also mitigate issues associated with worn system oil causing problems for the hydraulic control system in modern, electronic 2-stroke engines.
Developed based on proprietary technology, the SEA-Mate® BOB technology allows for the blending of the in-use system oil with a higher BN cylinder oil product to produce a fit-for-purpose cylinder lubricant and facilitate addition of fresh system oil to the engine sump. With BOB units on board 30 – 140 BN cylinder oil can be blended utilising the in-use system oil as a base-oil, blending it with high-BN or traditional cylinder oils available from the oil majors. The SEA-Mate® BOB system has received “no objection” letters from MAN Diesel & Turbo (MDT) and Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) engines and is suitable for use on all types of vessel, both retrofit and newbuild.
A future-ready system for cylinder oil blending with more than 200 installations in operation
Originally developed by Maersk for use on A.P Moller-Maersk group’s fleet of containerships, MFT has since welcomed investment in the technology for installations across a wide range of ship types. To date, over two hundred units have been installed and millions of cylinder operation hours have been logged.
The MFT Blending-on-Board product line comprises of three unit types; the B1000 for medium range engines with a bore size of 50 – 72 cm, the B3000 for larger engines with a bore size above 72 cm, and the new SEA-Mate B500 specifically designed for engines with a bore size of 26 – 48 cm.
The medium range unit was introduced in 2015 and the first volume order was placed by Maersk Tankers for the retrofit of the SEA-Mate® B1000 system for twelve tankers. In 2016, the units were installed on the tankers without the need to interrupt the vessels schedule.
Since the introduction, the SEA-Mate® B1000 system has also been adopted for vessels owned by Bertling, Masterbulk and Evergas. For the smaller B500 system, the Clipper group has in 2017 taken delivery of the first unit, to be fitted on a vessel equipped with an MAN Diesel S42MC engine.
“Our experiences with the current 200+ installations have proved that it will be possible to achieve continuous lubrication at, or close to, the lowest allowed consumption of lubricant as specified by the engine manufacturer, with the optimal amount of acid neutralisation and cleaning properties – the cylinder lubricant from the SEA-Mate® BOB system always matching the fuel composition.”
“The flexibility of the system allows blending of a cylinder oil with system oil or blending of two cylinder oils, and means it can easily be adapted for future needs through change of the incoming streams,” says Sune Lilbaek, Head of Sales at Maersk Fluid Technology A/S.
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