Lubricator System for Cutting the Cylinder

Oil Bill and Reducing Emissions on

MAN B&W Two-Stroke Engines

The cylinder lube oil consumption rep-
resents a large expenditure for an en-
gine operating with the nominal guiding
feed rate and, especially for the large
bore engines, even a 0.1 g/bhph re-
duction in the cylinder oil dosage repre-
sents a significant yearly saving for the
owner. Cylinder lubrication is therefore
an important development theme with
the aim of reducing the cylinder lube oil
dosage while maintaining a satisfactory
piston ring/liner wear rate and main-
taining or improving the time between
overhauls. Reduced lube oil consump-
tion also has a positive impact on the
environment as emissions will be lower.
The cylinder oil must be injected into
the cylinder at the exact position and
time where the effect is optimal, which
is not always possible with the conven-
tional lubricators of today. MAN B&W
Diesel A/S therefore initiated the devel-
opment of the new electronic system,
the so-called “Alpha Lubrication Sys-
tem” shown in Fig. 1.
The development work for the new
system was started in 1997, and the
prototype entered service on an MAN
B&W type 7S35MC engine in 1998.
Since then the system has been
fine-tuned on MAN B&W’s 4T50MX re-
search engine, and service tests were
extended to cover several K90MC en-
gines. The first large bore engine with
the new lubricator fitted as standard, a
12K90MC engine, was tested in Korea
in September 1999 with very satisfac-
tory results, and the system has now
been in service on a number of engines
for up to 20,000 hours, with good results.
The system is now standard on all
MAN B&W two-stroke engines with a
diameter bigger than 600 mm and is an
option on the smaller engines. The sys-
tem has been ordered for more than
100 engines, and 30 sets are in service.
The new lubricating system is based on
the principle of injecting a specific vol-
ume of oil into the cylinder, via a num-
ber of injectors, for every four (or every
five, six, etc.) revolutions. Furthermore,
the precise timing ensures that all cylin-
der oil is delivered directly onto the pis-
ton ring pack where it is needed. This
can be seen in Fig. 2, which shows the
pressure measured in the oil injector

Cylinder oil
service tank Cylinder Cylinder
liner liner
Feed-back Feed-back Feed-back
sensor sensor sensor
Accumu- Accumu-
lator lator
Lubricator Lubricator Lubricator Lubricator

Solenoid Solenoid Solenoid Solenoid

valve valve valve valve
Pump station
with To other
stand-by pumps cylinders

To other To other
cylinders cylinders

Tacho Alarm
Cylinder lub. system
oil pipes signal
Master control unit and backup control unit
Electrical Index Slow-down
connections signal system
HMI panel

Fig. 1: Principle of Alpha Lubricator System

1
 during a cycle with lube oil injection as
well as during a cycle without lube oil
[Bar] injection. The passage of the four pis-
ton rings is clearly seen in the pressure
20
signal for the cycle without lube oil in-
jection, and the precision of the new lu-
bricator is obvious.
15
Lube oil The lubricator itself, Fig. 3, has a small
injection pressure piston for each lubricator quill in the
cylinder liner, and the power for injecting
10
the oil comes from the system pressure,
supplied by a pump station. A common
Oil quill pressure rail system is used on the driving side,
5 but the injection side has a high-pressure
positive displacement system, thus giving
equal amounts to each quill and provi-
ding the best possible safety margin
0
against clogging of single lubricator quills.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 [ms]

Fig. 2: Injection pattern for Alpha Lubricator System

Signal for lubrication

from control unit
Capacitive feedback
sensor for control of
piston movement

Outlets
for cylinder liner Injection plungers
lube oil points

Solenoid
valve
P

A
P
T A T

Cylinder lube 45 bar cylinder

oil outlet lube oil inlet
Spacer
for basic setting of Adjusting screw Actuator piston
pump stroke

Fig. 3: Alpha Lubricator

2
Fig. 4: 12K98MC-C with Alpha Lubricator
For the large bore engines, Fig. 4, each
cylinder has two lubricators (each serv-
ing five lube oil quills), while the small
bore engines, Fig. 5, (with fewer lube
oil quills per cylinder) are served by one
lubricator per cylinder. The pump station
includes two pumps (one operating,
the other on stand-by with automatic
start up).
The computer unit comprises a main
computer, controlling the normal oper-
ation, a switch-over unit and a (simple)
back-up unit. The injection function is
controlled by the computer sending
an on/off signal to a solenoid valve. A
shaft encoder (which can be shared
with the PMI system, or timing system
on the Intelligent Engine) supplies the
necessary timing signal.
The amount of oil injected can be ad-
justed automatically or manually as
required, e.g. at load changes, start/stop,
at reduced engine load (different modes
are available), sulphur % in the fuel,
temperature level on liner surface, vari-
ation in cylinder oil BN, etc. Pre-lubrication
before start can be made manually or be
a sequence in the bridge manoeuvring
system.
Both for marine engines and for engines
for power generation purposes, very
low feed rates have been demonstrated,
with oil consumption down to 0.5 g/bhph.
Further reductions in wear rates as well
as in feed rates can be obtained by uti-
lising fuel-oil-sulphur-dependent lubri-
cation, a principle for which MAN B&W
has applied for a patent.
3
Fig. 5: 7S50MC-C with Alpha Lubricator

MAN B&W Diesel A/S Copyright ©

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DK-2450 Copenhagen SV Reproduction permitted

Telephone: +45 33 85 11 00 provided source is given.
Telex: 16592 manbw dk
Telefax: +45 33 85 10 30 MAN B&W Diesel A/S
manbw@manbw.dk Reg. No: 39 66 13 14
www.manbw.dk
August 2001
P.384-01.08