Alpha Adaptive Cylinder-oil Control
Alpha ACC
Introduction
The Alpha Lubricator System, Fig. 1,
available for all MAN B&W MC/MC-C
two-stroke engines, has an algorithm
controlling cylinder oil dosage proportio-
nal to the sulphur content in the fuel. This
algorithm is referred to as Alpha Adaptive
Cylinder-oil Control (Alpha ACC).
To explore the potential savings with
Alpha ACC, a large scale testing
programme is in progress on MAN
B&W MC/MC-C type engines in service
for a number of owners.
The aim of the testing programme is to
determine the level of savings in cylinder
oil consumption when taking advantage
of the electronically controlled Alpha
Lubricator System. An added benefit is
that such savings in cylinder oil consum-
ption will reduce the environmental im-
pact from operating vessels with the Al-
pha Lubricator System. Also more uni-
form and optimal cylinder liner wear rates
can be expected.
Fig. 1: Alpha Lubricator fitted on a 12K98MC-C main diesel engine
The testing programme involves large
bore engines for both container vessels
(K-MC/MC-C) and for VLCC propulsion
(S-MC/MC-C), as well as small and
medium bore MC/MC-C engines.
In the following, the very promising pre-
liminary results from the testing prog-
ramme will be described and evaluated.
Cylinder oil amount
Sulphur amount
Fig. 2: Cylinder oil amount proportional to
sulphur amount entering the cylinders
(the basic principle of Alpha ACC)
Working Principle
The principle of the Alpha ACC appears
from Fig. 2. The cylinder oil amount is
controlled such that it is proportional to
the amount of sulphur entering the cyl-
inder with the fuel.
The following two criteria determine the
control:
The cylinder oil dosage shall be pro-
portional to the sulphur percentage
in the fuel
The cylinder oil dosage shall be pro-
portional to the engine load (i.e. the
amount of fuel entering the cylinders).
The implementation of the above two
criteria will lead to an optimal cylinder
oil dosage, proportional to the amount
of sulphur entering the cylinders.
The above principle is founded on the
observation that the main part of the
cylinder liner wear is of a corrosive nature,
and the amount of neutralizing alkalinic
components needed in the cylinder
should therefore be proportional to the
amount of sulphur (generating sulphu-
rous acids) entering the cylinders. A
minimum cylinder oil dosage is set in
order to account for other duties of the
cylinder oil (securing sufficient oil film,
detergency, etc.).
Fig. 3 shows control of cylinder oil dos-
age proportional to the sulphur percen-
tage in the fuel. A minimum dosage
Cylinder oil dosage (g/bhph)
1.25
1
0.75
0.5
0.25
0
0 1 2 4 5 6
Sulphur %
Fig. 3: Cylinder oil dosage proportional to
sulphur percentage in the fuel
1
of 0.5 g/bhph is indicated. This mini- 25% load, the load-proportional lubrica- Since then the vessel has been operating
mum value is preliminary and, given the tion is stopped, and rpm-proportional with cylinder oil dosage control according
efficient lubrication achievable with the lubrication takes over, as seen in Fig. 4. to Figs. 3 and 4 (the Sulphur Algorithm).
Alpha Lubricator System, we expect to
be able to further reduce this minimum The above described Alpha ACC is im- The results from the first five months of
value in the future. plemented with the so-called Sulphur operation is seen in Fig. 6. The upper-
Algorithm, see Fig. 5, in the Alpha Lu- most part of Fig. 6 shows the load varia-
The control according to Fig. 3 is based bricator System. In the present version tion and the sulphur content in the fuel.
on a standard TBN 70-80 cylinder oil. For of the Alpha Lubricator System, the
operation in long periods with fuels with a crew onboard the vessel inputs the Both the load variation and the variation
sulphur content below 1%, we recom- so-called HMI-setting based on the in sulphur content are typical for this kind
mend changing to a cylinder oil with a sulphur percentage of the fuel used of vessel. The middle diagram in Fig. 6
lower TBN (i.e. TBN 40-50 cylinder oils). and a conversion table, see Fig. 5. shows the total amount of sulphur enter-
This is done by one input on the ing the cylinders with the fuel. On the lower
The environmental impact is clearly HMI-panel of the Alpha Lubricator part of Fig. 6, four curves are shown for
demonstrated: Owners who wish to System each time the fuel specifica- comparison:
operate on green fuel (low-sulphur tion is changed.
fuel) will, at the same time, have the Typical feed rate (mechanical lubricator),
possibility to operate with green 1.2 g/bhph, rpm-proportional control
cylinder lubrication. Economic and
Environmental Advantages Basic feed rate (mechanical lubricator),
Fig. 4 describes the control of the cylinder 0.9 g/bhph, rpm-proportional control
oil dosage proportional to the engine In order to illustrate the advantages
load, together with rpm-proportional of Alpha ACC, we have chosen, as Basic feed rate (Alpha Lubricator System),
and mep-proportional lubrication. At an example, a vessel from the fleet 0.8 g/bhph, mep-proportional control
part load, load-proportional cylinder oil involved in the testing programme.
dosage will provide large cost savings The vessel is a 6,800 teu container Alpha ACC (Sulphur Algorithm),
and also reduce the environmental im- ship equipped with a 12K90MC engine. 0.25 g/bhph/S%.
pact from excessive lubrication. Below The Alpha ACC was implemented on
this vessel in early December 2001.
Specific
Part load dosage (% of full load dosage) 0 100% Svovl % %
Sulphur
dosage
HMI
setting
% g/bhph
Engine speed 1 0.50 77
100 Typical case: 74,640 bhp x 24h, 1.1 0.50 77
x 1.2g/bhph x 0.91 = 1956 kg/24h 0 100% 1.2 0.50 77
1.3 0.50 77
Fuel index 1.4 0.50 77
Alpha ACC: 74,640 bhp x 24h 1.5 0.50 77
80 x 0.75g/bhph x 0.75 = 1008 kg/24h 0 100%
1.6
1.7
0.50
0.50
77
77
1.8 0.50 77
Oil pressure 1.9 0.50 77
2 0.50 77
2.1 0.53 81
60 o
C rpm
2.2 0.55 85
2.3 0.58 88
2.4 0.60 92
deg % 2.5 0.63 96
2.6 0.65 100
2.7 0.68 104
40 Example,12K90MC: min bar 2.8 0.70 108
2.9 0.73 112
Load (%): 75 Oil pressure
3 0.75 115
low
3.1 0.78 119
S %: 3.0 Index failure 3.2 0.80 123
3.3 0.83 127
20 Mark/trig 3.4 0.85 131
failure 3.5 0.88 135
Feedback 3.6 0.90 138
failure 3.7 0.93 142
Load (%) 3.8 0.95 146
0 Common 3.9 0.98 150
alarm 4 1.00 154
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 4.1 1.03 158
4.2 1.05 162
LAMPTEST ESC ENTER 4.3 1.08 165
R rpm proportional (%) 4.4
4.5
1.10
1.13
169
173
4.6 1.15 177
Mmep proportional (%) PUMP 1 PUMP 2 4.7 1.18 181
PRELUB 4.8 1.20 185
4.9 1.23 188
Load proportional (%) 5 1.25 192

Fig. 4: Load-dependency of cylinder oil dosage. Alpha ACC uses Fig. 5: The Sulphur Algorithm in the Alpha Lubricator System
load-proportional cylinder oil dosage

2
 Load (%) From detailed wear-study of 12K90MC
Sulphur %
engine equipped with mechanical lubricator
100 Load 3,1
Sulphur Liner wear (mm)
2,7
80
2,3 0.00 0.00 mm/1000h
60
1,9
film in 0.04 0.06
1.6 0.48
40 1,5

Sulphur (kg/24h) 1.2 0.48 0.13

Oil
5,000
0.8 0.21
3,000
1,000 0.4

0
Daily consumption (litre/24h) 0 1,000 3,000 5,000 7,000 9,000 11,000
2,500 Running hours
1 Liner wear (mm/1000h)*
2,000
1
1,500 2
0.8
3
1,000 4 0.6
500
0.4
0 0.2
25/12-01 03/02-02 15/03-02 24/04-02
05/12-01 14/01-02 23/02-02 04/04-02 0
1- Typical feed-rate (mechanical lubricator), 1.2 g/bhph, rpm-control 0 1,000 3,000 5,000 7,000 9,000 11,000
2 - Basic feed-rate (mechanical lubricator), 0.9 g/bhph, rpm-control Running hours
3 - Basic feed-rate (Alpha lubricator system), 0.8 g/bhph, mep-control *: Judgement made based on Fe-content in drain oil samples
4 - Alpha ACC: 0.25 g/bhph/S%.

Fig. 6: Typical operating profile for a large container vessel Fig. 8: Detailed wear study on a 12K90MC equipped with
equipped with 12K90MC mechanical lubricators

Yearly cylinder oil expense (USD) Liner wear (mm/1000h)

700,000 Cylinder oil price: 1 USD/kg 1 Mechanical lubricator, rpm-proportional control
600,000 Yearly operating hours: 7,100
0.8
500,000
400,000
0.6
300,000
200,000 0.4
100,000
0.2
0 Alpha adaptive control
Typical feed-rate Basic feed-rate Basic feed-rate Alpha ACC
(mechanical (mechanical (Alpha lubricator) (Alpha lubricator) 0
lubricator) lubricator) 0.8 g/bhph, 0.25 g/bhph/S%, 0 1,000 3,000 5,000 7,000 9,000 11,000
1.2 g/bhph, 0.9 g/bhph, mep-control Running hours
rpm-control rpm-control

Fig. 7: Yearly cylinder oil expenses with various cylinder lubrication Fig. 9: Cylinder liner wear, comparison between wear with tradi-
principles tional lubrication and Alpha ACC

3
 6,800 TEU, 12K90MC, Alpha ACC, cylinder liner wear Engine type : 6S70MC
Absolute max wear (mm) Layout point: SMCR 22,920 bhp
0.50 Load point NCR = 90,0% of SMCR 20,628 bhp
Fuel oil sulphur content 3%
0.45 0.05 mm/1000h
Cylinder lubricating oil consumption
Oil film Cylin 1the with mechanical lubricators 1.20 g/bhph
0.40
pressure areas of the
Cyl 2 high Alpha ACC
Cylinder lubricating oil consumption
0.35 Cyl 3 introduced with Alpha lubricators 0.75 g/bhph
0.30 Cyl 10 Running hours per year 7,000 hours
Cyl 11 Lubricating oil price 100 Cent/litre
0.25 Lub. oil consumption with mechanical lubricators 186 ton
Cyl 12 Lub. oil consumption with Alpha lubricators 108 ton
0.20
Saving in cylinder lub. oil consumption 78 ton
0.15 Saving in cylinder lub. oil consumption 84,333 litres
0.10 Saving in USD 84,333 USD
0.05
Running hours Exchange rate 7.55 DKK/USD
0.00 Price for Alpha lubricator system 641,400 DKK
0 1,000 3,000 5,000 7,000 9,000 11,000 Price for supervision during installation 89,000 DKK
Price for fitters assistance 130,000 DKK
Total price for Alpha lubricator system 860,400 DKK
Fig. 10: Cylinder liner wear before and after introduction of Alpha ACC
Total price for Alpha lubricator system 113,960 USD
Pay backtime 1.35 Years
As can be seen, very significant savings on
the daily consumption of cylinder oil were
achieved with the Alpha ACC during the Fig. 11: Retrofit of Alpha Lubricator System with Alpha ACC
five-month period. These savings will on 6S70MC
have very significant economic impli-
cations, see Fig. 7, with annual savings cylinder oil dramatically and, furthermore, Conclusion
of 340,000 USD on cylinder oil. it will increase the risk of scuffing during
periods of operating at part load and/or Alpha ACC is currently being tested in
In addition, environmental impact in with low-sulphur fuel (bore polish). a large-scale in-service test on a wide
this case goes hand in hand with the range of different MC/MC-C engines.
economic advantages. With Alpha ACC, such risks are elimi- The preliminary test results are very
nated, and it is expected that cylinder promising with respect to savings on
Naturally, the above savings on cylinder liner wear will become stable and pre- cylinder oil, impact on, in particular,
oil must be obtained while maintaining dictable over time and low on average, particle emissions and combustion
acceptable cylinder liner wear figures. Fig. 9. chamber wear figures.

Previous studies into the nature of cyl- The first cylinder wear measurements Alpha ACC can be implemented for all
inder liner wear on a similar 12K90MC taken on the 12K90MC equipped with MC/MC-C engines equipped with the
engine have shown that the major part Alpha ACC indicate that liner wear is Alpha Lubricator System.
of liner wear takes place during short very low, even with the very low cylin-
intervals where a low cylinder oil feed der oil consumption, Fig. 10. As a retrofit on vessels in service, the
rate (due to high load) and a high sulphur Alpha Lubricator System with Alpha
percentage are combined. ACC will have a payback period of less
than two years on most types of
Fig. 8 shows the results registered on a MC/MC-C engines. An example is
12K90MC engine with mechanical given in Fig.11.
lubricator (0.65 g/bhph) with rpm-propor- Copyright
tional control. These results were re- MAN B&W Diesel A/S MAN B&W Diesel A/S
vealed through very frequent cylinder Reproduction permitted Teglholmsgade 41
liner wear measurements and even provided source is given. DK-2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
more frequent drain oil sample analyses. Telephone: +45 33 85 11 00
Naturally, the wear- peaks can be MAN B&W Diesel A/S Telex: 16592 manbw dk
avoided by increasing the cylinder oil Reg. No: 39 66 13 14 Telefax: +45 33 85 10 30
dosage. However, such a simple in-
crease will increase the expenses on September 2002 manbw@manbw.dk
P.395-02.09 www.manbw.com