Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Abstract
In compliance to MARPOL VI, regulation 14, ships
need to burn 0.1% sulphur fuel after January 1 st 2015 in
the ECA areas. The present study deals with the
challenges associated with the utilization of low sulphur
diesel, MGO or DMA grade. The issues dealt are the
lack of lubricity, the need for different lube oil, the low
viscosity of fuel and inability to sustain full film
lubrication, potential stability and incompatibility
issues. Shipping companies need to guide the crews with
transparent and thorough fuel change-over procedures.
At the same time they need to implement necessary
design modifications to accommodate 0.1% sulphur fuel
and cope with the increased cost of fuel. The financial
burdens in operational costs for various cases are also
discussed.
Keywords
Low sulphur, ECA, MARPOL VI, fuel cost, MGO
1. Introduction
2. Lack of Lubricity
Since January 1st, 2010 marine vessels berthing at EU
ports for more than two hours are required to operate on
0.1% sulphur Middle Gas Oil, MGO. Also on January
1, 2010, the California Air Resources Board, CARB,
has mandated commercial vessels to operate on 0.1%
sulphur MGO, when entering California waters 24 miles
from port. The revised MARPOL Annex VI, Regulation
14 has adopted progressive reduction in SOx emissions
from the engines at the designated Emission Control
Areas (ECAs). After January 1st 2015 the sulphur limit
in marine fuels will be 0.1% in all ECAs.
a) Hydrodynamic Lubrication
b) Boundary Lubrication
Fig. 2: Hydrodynamic and Boundary Lubrication
(STLE, 2008)
Lighter fuel oils traditionally have lower lubricating
properties. Their hydrodynamic lubrication ability can
be assessed by the Sommerfeld number which is as a
function of the viscosity:
(1)
where is the absolute viscosity, N are the revolutions
per minute, P is the load per unit projected bearing area,
r is the shaft radius and c is the radial clearance. The
effect of the Sommerfeld number is reflected by
Petroffs equation correlating Sommerfeld number and
friction for various lubrication modes. This is the so
called Stribeck curve (Ludema, 1996) shown in Fig. 3.
3. Fuel Stability
HDS removes a large measure of aromatic content,
resulting in reduced ignition quality. It also removes
naturally occurring anti-oxidants that provide both
physical and thermal stability of the fuel. Absence of
natural anti-oxidants leads to the formation of hyperperoxides, which can result in acid corrosion attack of
fuel pump systems and pump seal failure. Hyperperoxide accumulation in fuel results in excessive
deposits and emissions and formation of high carbon
polymers affecting combustion. At high concentrations
peroxides can damage or degrade certain plastics and
elastomers, particularly at high temperatures. Oxidation
process also produces gums, polymers and other
insolubles. Standards to detect hyper-peroxide
contamination are available.
should
comply
-Regulation II-1/26.11
Arrangement).
of
with
SOLAS
the
following
(Capacity
&
8. Fuel Change-over
Switch from HFO to LSF is not a simple procedure. For
example, temperature fluctuations during the switching
process in the engine can lead to short-term variations in
viscosities, energy contents as well as fuel flows in the
engine system. Potential consequences are alterations in
13. References
ASTM D5001, 1989, Standard Test Method for
Measurement of Lubricity of Aviation Turbine Fuels by
the Ball-on-Cylinder Lubricity Evaluator (BOCLE)
ASTM D4740, 1995, Standard Test Method for
Cleanliness and Compatibility of Residual Fuels by
Spot Test
Bergstrm A, Berggren J., 2010, Switching to LowSulfur Fuels in the Commercial Marine Industry,
http://www.colfaxfluidhandling.com/admin/modules/article_m
anager/uploads/7923-LowSulfur%20Wht%20Ppr-6.pdf
BIMCO, 2005, https://www.bimco.org
California Air Resources Board (CARB), 2011, 17 CCR,
Section 93118.2, Title 17.
12. Conclusions
The utilization of low sulphur fuel in shipping is not
new. Although there are many challenges associated
with the use of distillates all of them can be tackled.
Every ship is different and she has her own soul.
Consequently what might be OK for one vessel may not
befit the other. It appears that the solution to the
challenges involves a lot of trial and error adapting the
fuel system gradually. The introduction of the 0.1%
limit will entail significant financial burden to shipping.
The fuel bills will be significantly higher to absorb the
high cost of desulphurization at the present. Segregated
storage and transfer and distribution systems for fuel
and lube oil impose a financial toll as well as the need
for space optimization. The potential addition of sensors
and meters, coolers and/or chillers will up the bill even
higher.
10
11