Maersk Fluid Technology new cylinder oil ‘Blending-On-Board’ (BOB) system, has its first volume order, for retrofit of the SEA-Mate B1000 system onto 12 Maersk tankers. The vessels include ten equipped with Wärtsilä (WinGD) RTA and RT-Flex engines and two vessels with engines designed by MAN Diesel & Turbo.

The SEA-Mate B1000 system targets medium-sized 2-stroke propulsion engines with a cylinder bore between 420 and 680 mm, and Maersk say payback time is expected to be less than 2 years when taking fuel savings, system oil and cylinder oil cost reductions into account.

The BOB systems will be installed during 2016 without the need to interrupt vessels schedule, and will enable the vessels to blend from 30-140 BN cylinder oil, utilizing the in-use system oil as a base-oil.

Tommy Thomassen, CTO Maersk Tankers commented “With the flexibility of the B1000 Blending-On-Board (BOB) system from Maersk Fluid Technology, we get the ability to match our cylinder oil lubrication to the fuel sulphur. The BOB system is expected to facilitate up to 40% reduction of current lube-oil consumption, cleaner main engine system oil and fuel savings of at least 0.5% for both MAN Diesel & Turbo and Wärtsilä (WinGD) 2-stroke engines. Investing in BOB allows Maersk Tankers to stay flexible and ready for future lubrication challenges”

Sune Lilbaek, Head of Sales and Marketing at Maersk Fluid Technology says: “When switching from traditional lubrication oil to our future-proof blending system, vessels will be able to reduce lubricant supply to the lowest allowed consumption of lubricant as specified by the engine manufacturer. This is possible because cylinder lubricant from the BOB system always will be matching the sulphur content in the fuel. The BOB system also facilitates better engine performance through utilization of the in-use system oil as a base for the cylinder oil. This way, it will be possible to add fresh system oil to the main engine, improving overall cleanliness and viscosity of the system oil.

When significant volumes of fresh system oil is added to the main engine lubrication and hydraulic circuit, it is documented to result in less wear of critical mechanical & hydraulic components. This also makes it possible to reduce purifier sludge and facilitates proven fuel savings up to 1.5% as a result of more optimal system oil viscosity properties.”

In addition, three of the 12 vessels will be equipped with the SEA-Mate B4000 analyzer, making it possible for the vessels to closely monitor the iron levels in the cylinder oil scrape-down, facilitating further optimization of the lubrication system for the different engine types in the series of vessels.