Marine Fluid Technology A/S are a company based in Denmark who offer a unique solution which allows a Fit-for-Purpose cylinder lubricant to be created onboard through the use of BOB.
What is BOB?
It is a Blending-on-Board lubrication system which:
- Reduces lube oil consumption by up to 40%,
- Cuts fuel consumption by 1.5% at slow steaming,
- Prevents cold corrosion and
- Reduces maintenance costs
Watch the following video to get a quick understanding:
How does BOB work?
Blending-on-Board (BOB) technology allows Owners to produce a Fit-for-Purpose cylinder lubricant onboard, by blending the in-use system oil with a higher-BN cylinder oil product, which facilitates the addition of fresh system oil to the engine sump.
This gives the engineers onboard the ability to adjust the BN of the cylinder oil to meet different Sulphur contents and detergency needs in the engine without raising the feed rate; the need for additives can be adjusted with the BN and not with the feed rate as has been the norm previously.
On vessels using compliant fuel, this has shown to be a huge benefit, since before 2020 it was often said that with the lower Sulphur contents the need for different BN cylinder oil would be reduced, however experience has shown that with the low BN cylinder oils the detergency has been a challenge and this has created the need for many vessels to shift between different grades.
With a blender they can instead blend the cylinder oil to a BN number that gives enough detergency without causing over lubrication issues which makes it easier to optimize the feed rate.
Where is BOB Applicable?
On all 2-stroke engines, since cylinder oil is matched to the consumed fuel and system oil is gradually renewed.
Whether the vessels are using Scrubbers or Compliant Fuels, the use of system oil from the engine and renewal of the oil in the engine keeps the system oil renewed and clean, which reduces the build up of deposits in sensitive areas of the engine like the piston crowns and reduces the wear on sensitive hydraulic components in modern engines.
The blender is connected to the oil system onboard taking high BN cylinder oil from the storage tanks, used system oil from the main engine settling tank and then feeding the blended oil to the day tank.
The installation can be done by the crew onboard while the vessel is sailing.
