Professional Documents
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Concerns
Dear Sirs and Madams Owners and operators of MAN Diesel &
Turbo four-stroke diesel engines.
During the last few years, IMO has requiered lower NOx emissions GenSets Type: L16/24, L21/31,
for HFO engines. Therefore, the engines have been readjusted to fulfil L23/30H, L27/38, L28/32H, V28/32S
these requirements by means of retarding the fuel injection.
The adjustment may cause higher lube oil contamination, and continu- Summary
ous operation of the lube oil separator is therefore mandatory on the Insufficient treatment of lube oil is a
running engine. common problem, and this Service Let-
Poor lube oil quality may cause increased wear on the crankshaft, ter gives recommendations on future
camshaft, turbocharger and other vital parts, and replacement of ex- operation.
pensive components may be required/necessary.
Therefore, we ask you kindly to look into the attached guideline for lube
oil treatment, which can be used for both operation of the separator
and design of the engine room.
If you have any questions regarding lube oil treatment, please contact:
Enclosure:
LEO9-HOL@mandieselturbo.com B 12 15 0,
Treatment and maintenance of lubricating oil
Yours faithfully
MAN Diesel & Turbo MAN Diesel & Turbo MAN Diesel & Turbo
H. Christoffersensvej 6 Niels Juels Vej 15 Branch of MAN Diesel & Turbo SE,
4960 Holeby 9900 Frederikshavn Germany
Denmark Denmark CVR No.: 31611792
Phone: +45 54 69 31 00 Phone: +45 96 20 41 00 Head office: Teglholmsgade 41
Fax: +45 54 69 30 30 Fax: +45 96 20 40 30 2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
mandieselturbo-hol@mandieselturbo.com mandieselturbo-frh@mandieselturbo.com German Reg.No.: HRB 22056
Amtsgericht Augsburg
www.mandieselturbo.com
MAN Diesel & Turbo
1643494-3.10
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B 12 15 0 Treatment and maintenance of lubricating oil Page 2 (7)
Sufficiently low viscosity is obtained by preheat- t = actual effective separator unit sep-
arating time per day [hour]
ing the lubricating oil to a temperature of 95C -
(23.5 h separating time and 0.5 h
98C, when entering the separator bowl. for sludge discharge = 24 h/day)
The capacity of the separator unit must be
n = number of turnovers per day of the
adjusted according to MDT's recommenda- theoretical oil volume correspond-
tions. ing to 1.36 [l/kW] or 1 [l/HP]
Slow passage of the lubricating oil through the sep-
The following values for "n" are recommended:
arator unit is obtained by using a reduced flow rate
and by operating the separator unit 24 hours a day, n = 6 for HFO operation (residual)
stopping only for maintenance, according to mak-
n = 4 for MDO operation
er's recommendation.
n = 3 for distillate fuel
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Example 2
As an alternative, one common separator unit for
max. three engines can be installed, with one in
reserve if possible.
For the calculation in this example it is necessary
include the combined average power demand of
the multi-engine plant. The load profile experienced
for the majority of merchant vessels is that the aver-
age power demand is around 43-50% of the total 1 Interconnected valves
GenSet power installed. With three identical engines
this corresponds to 1.3-1.5 times the power of one Figure 2: One common separator unit for multi-engine plant
engine.
Bulk carrier and tankers : ~1.3 times the power
of one engine
Container vessel : ~1.5 times the power of one
engine
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B 12 15 0 Treatment and maintenance of lubricating oil Page 4 (7)
Stokes' law
The operating principles of centrifugal separation
are based on Stokes Law.
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Flow rate
It is known that separation efficiency is a function of
the separator units flow rate. The higher the flow
rate, the more particles are left in the oil and there-
fore the lower the separation efficiency. As the flow
rate is reduced, the efficiency with which particles
are removed increases and cleaning efficiency thus
Operating parameters improves. It is, however, essential to know at what
capacity adequate separation efficiency is reached
Various operating parameters affect separation effi-
in the specific case.
ciency. These include temperature, which controls
both lubricating oil viscosity and density, flow rate In principle, there are three ways to control the flow:
and maintenance. Adjustment of the built-in safety valve on the
pump.
Temperature of lubricating oil before This method is NOT recommended since the
separator unit built-on valve is nothing but a safety valve.
It is often seen that the lubricating oil pre-heaters The opening pressure is often too high and its
are undersized, have very poor temperature control, characteristic far from linear.
the steam supply to the pre-heater is limited or the In addition, circulation in the pump may result in
temperature set point is too low. oil emulsions and cavitation in the pump.
Often the heater surface is partly clogged by depos- A flow regulating valve arrangement on the
its. These factors all lead to reduced separation pressure side of the pump, which bypasses the
temperature and hence the efficiency of the separa- separator unit and re-circulates part of the
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