CYLINDER LUBRICATION SYSTEM

May 31, 2015 Marine Study

Cylinder lubrication in a lowspeed main propulsion

diesel engine:
Cylinder lubrication For marine diesel engines operating on residual fuels
containing sulphur, cylinder lubrication must generally serve the
following purposes:
Create and maintain an oil film to prevent metal to metal contact
between the cylinder liner and piston rings.
Neutralise sulphuric acid in order to control corrosion.
Clean the cylinder liner, and particularly the piston ring pack, to
prevent malfunction and damage caused by combustion and
neutralisation residues.
Cylinder lubricating oil for a low-speed main propulsion diesel engine is
admitted to each cylinder during the compression stroke. Cylinder
lubricating oil, for lubricating the piston rings and the liner, has to be
admitted when the piston, piston rings and the liner are in cool condition

and the piston is moving upward so that oil can be retained on the piston
rings and sprayed by the piston rings on the liner walls. This is only
possible during the compression stroke. Otherwise, the piston is hot and
if the lubricating oil is sprayed on it, it will evaporate very fast and will
not carry out any work of lubrication. At the same time, if lubricating oil
is injected during the expansion stroke, i.e. when the piston is moving
downwards, it will have a scrapping effect rather than lubrication.

Cylinder Lubrication in fourstroke trunk piston engine:

In four-stroke trunk piston engines, there are a number of different
methods for lubricating the cylinder liners and piston rings, depending
on engine size and make:
Splash from the revolving crankshaft
Inner lubrication, where the oil is supplied from the piston side
Outer lubrication, where the oil is supplied by an external, separate
cylinder lubricating device from the cylinder liner side.
In a four-stroke trunk piston engine, the cylinder lubricating oil is
identical to the engine system oil used for bearing lubrication and
cooling purposes.
A small amount of the cylinder lubricating oil by-passes the piston rings
and ends up in the combustion space,
where it is consumed. However, the piston in a four-stroke trunk piston
engine has an oil scraper ring that scrapes most of the oil supplied to the
cylinder liner back to the engines oil pan, from where it is drained,
cleaned and recycled.
Normally, a large, modern, well maintained four-stroke trunk piston
diesel
engine will consume some 0.3 to 0.5 g/kWh of lubricating oil.

Type of Oil Used in Cylinder

Lubricating System
o

The cylinder lubricant must be of a higher viscosity so that it can

form a good lubricating film between the liner and the piston rings.

It must also withstand the heat variations in the combustion area

and must deal with the combustion products.

Under normal running conditions this oil will typically be an

alkaline cylinder lubricating oil of SAE 50 viscosity.

The alkalinity is indicated by the TBN (Total Base Number ) rating

of the lubricant. The TBN value most suitable for the cylinder
lubricating oil depends largely on the sulphur content of the fuel
used. Typical values for sulphur content of 0.5 to 1% may be
between 20 to 25 TBN. For sulphur content over 1.5% the TBN
number may be 70 or higher.

Using the Correct Feed Rate

for Cylinder Lubrication
Once the correct lubricating oil is chosen the correct feed rate must be
established in accordance with the engine builders recommendations.

The feed rate has a critical effect on good engine operation apart
from the question of oil consumption. With a too low feed rate the
danger of the oil film breaking down causing blow by or additional
wear is increased.

Too high a feed rate is a waste of lubricant and money. The correct
feed rate will allow the formation of the lubricating film between the
liner and the rings and will give maximum protection at the piston
reversal points.

The cylinder oil consumption burette is a useful means of checking the

oil consumption of individual lubricator boxes to help ensure that the oil
is distributed across the boxes as intended.
The volume between the two internal discs is 1/2 litres. Given the
temperature density characteristics of the oil, the actual mass of the oil
during
its use in engine calibration can be calculated from the oil temperature.
Calibration time lies typically between 3 10 minutes depending on the oil
consumption rates and the speed/power of the engine, (if the oil feed
drive is speed/power dependent).
In slow speed operation, the use of heavy fuel oil with high sulphur
content makes the job of the cylinder lubricant very difficult. Even high

alkalinity oils cannot hope to neutralise all the sulphuric acids which are
produced during combustion.

Effect of Under Lubrication

and Over Lubrication of
Cylinder:
A correct viscosity is important in order to ensure the spreadability of the
cylinder oil, and the applied feed rate and injected amount of oil per
stroke are key factors in the delicate balance between under- lubrication
and over- lubrication:
Under-lubrication
If too little cylinder oil is supplied, starvation will occur which might
result in corrosion, accumulated contamination from unburned fuel and
combustion residues, and in the worst case, metal to metal contact,
known as scuffing.
Over-lubrication
If too much cylinder oil is supplied, the loss of fresh, unused oil in the
scavenge ports
will be high, and the piston rings might be prevented from moving
(rotating) in their grooves by the so called
hydraulic lock. Furthermore, the cylinder liner running surface
structure might over time become closed and smooth like a mirror, and
will no longer be able to retain the lubricating oil. This is sometimes
called chemical bore polish, and when alkaline deposit build-up on the
piston top land from excessive cylinder oil is in contact with the cylinder
liner running surface, it can cause what is sometimes called mechanical
bore polish. All of these phenomena might eventually result in scuffing.

Acid Condensation in the

combustion chamber

The cooling system must be operated so that the piston and cylinder
liner temperature is not dropped below the temperature at which the
Sulphuric acid may condense on the cylinder liner.
Acid condensation depends on:
the engine combustion pressure
the liner temperature
the concentration of the sulphur oxides
the humidity of the intake air.
So, to help the lubricant in neutralising the acid, the engineer must
ensure that the temperature of the scavenge air should be maintained in
accordance with the manufacturers recommendation. Too low a
scavenge air temperature will result in condensation with the risk of
moisture entering the cylinders; too high a scavenge air temperature will
adversely affect the combustion characteristics of the engine.

Engine Runing-in
Critical to this lubrication area is the way the engine has been run in at
commissioning. A good run in procedure will create a good wear in of the
cylinder liner and piston ring. A good gas seal is obtained between them
whereby a thin oil film provides reliable and effective lubrication.
The period and method of running in should be decided upon in
accordance with the engine manufacturers recommendation. Even if
only new rings have been fitted the running in procedures should be as
near as possible to that recommended for new engines.
The running in recommendation may specify the use of a particular type
of lubricant and the feed rate should be high. After running in, the
normal cylinder oil will be used and the feed rate gradually adjusted until
the recommended feed rate is reached.
So, the cylinder lubricating oil must create a lubricating film between the
piston ring and the liner, and must maintain effective lubrication. It must

also combat corrosive wear. The use of the correct lubricant and the
correct feed rate for the engine load will help to achieve the best result
from the lubricant.
Lubrication Of Medium Speed Trunk Piston Engine

In medium speed diesel the cylinder is open to the crank case. This
means that contamination of the crank case oil by combustion products
requires the oil to be different in character to that which may be used in
a slow speed engine. Generally, the lubricant must:
* create and maintain effective lubrication between moving components
under high mechanical and thermal loads;
* transport solid contaminants from the cylinder to the cleaning devices,
such as filters and centrifuges;
* withstand heat; fight contamination, corrosion and wear; resist
oxidation and thermal breakdown; keep the engine clean.
References:
1. www.marinediesels.info
2. The Running and Maintenance of Marine Machinery Cowley
3. Reeds Marine Engineering Series, Vol. 12 Motor Engineering
Knowledge for Marine Engineers

4. Lambs Question and Answers on Marine Diesel Engines S.

Christensen
5. Principles and Practice of Marine Diesel Engines Sanyal
6. www.wartsila.com