With the IMO 2020 regulation looming on the horizon, the lubricants industry is also faced with the technical challenge of how to meet with the new stringent regulations. New products are on the way, writes Samantha Fisk
Trying to get ships cleaner for the future has hit not just the maritime industry; but has sent a shock[ds_preview] wave over the globe to its other counter parts and suppliers in other industries too, none more so than that of the oil industry, which is now faced by developing products that will also be compliant with the latest regulations coming into affect. The effect that this is having on the maritime industry is that there is confusion for most about what technology will be the best to invest in, both financially and also that will definitely meet with environmental legislation. One of the main factors about which way shipowners should head in has been the topic of fuel with recent months seeing a rapid flurry of speculative new fuels being developed for the market.
Iain White, global field engineering manager, ExxonMobil highlights that there is a lot of confusion in the market at the moment surround fuel choice and what shipowners will need to opt for going into the future. To help its customers and help the industry, Exxonmobil launched its »Journey to 2020« series of symposiums in late 2018.
ExxonMobil on »Journey to 2020«
The first symposium was held at the Equinox Complex, in Singapore in October, followed by events in Hong Kong, Taipei, Athens, Tokyo, Imbari, Copenhagen and Hamburg. Other dates in 2019 are also scheduled. The company says that it anticipates that the vast majority of the industry will initially choose low sulphur fuels, there is no single route to compliance. The »Journey to 2020« symposiums will enable operators to discuss the most practical compliance choices for them with a team of ExxonMobil experts with deep industry experience and fuels and lubricants’ knowledge.
These events will also provide an opportunity for operators to explore cylinder oil options that best fit their fuel choices. For the majority of vessels bunkering a 0.50% sulphur fuel, a 40BN cylinder oil will be the best choice. Vessels fitted with scrubbers will continue to burn HFO and will solely use a high BN alternative.
White highlights that over the recent years with NOx regulations and EEDI standard this has impacted the design of engines coming to the market today, along with this 50% of ships are lubricated wrongly, he notes. »In 2011 we saw the problem with cold corrosion and the advice was to adjust the feed rate and reduce the cylinder«, he adds.
ExxonMobil has been developing technologies to further investigate and understand how oils are working in the engines. The company has undertaken a large investment programme in its facilities for research in this area, where it now has facilities to X-ray the oil as it is working which allows the company to calculate the iron and base numbers in 20 minutes. In addition to this ExxonMobil has launched its Mobil Serv Cylinder Condition Monitoring Service. The company says that the scrape down oil analysis service utilises XRF technology that will provide operators with rapid, detailed insights for their engine.
The cylinder condition monitoring service will allow operators to receive recommendations on feed rate and cylinder oil to optimise engine lubricant consumption, which will allow customers to react quickly to any situations that may occur. The monitoring service will also have the ability to measure the sulphur content of the vessel’s fuel. Further to this, ExxonMobil are looking to launch a new lubricant to the market in 2019 that will be aimed at the new types of engines affecting the market.
Total – launch in 2019
Total Lubmarine are also experiencing similar confusion on the market whilst the deadline for the IMO 2020 comes into effect. Serge Dal Farra, Marketing Director, Total Lubmarine explains the time that we are currently going through can be summed up by the term VUCA, Volatility of the market, Uncertainty of what lies ahead, Complex decisions and Ambiguity.
The challenge that lies ahead for the maritime community is that in the future it will be moving into a »multifuel era«, which will provide a challenge to all those involved in the process. Currently, there is a range of lubricant oils on the market ranging from BN 25 through to BN 140, with the higher BN numbers coming into play through the discovery of cold corrosion through slow steaming.
With new fuels being introduced to the market, it is expected that a BN number of around 40 will be needed for engines that run this range of fuels. For this Total Lubmarine is also developing its own lubricant that is set to also meet the challenges of the future environmental regulations. »We’ve seen that you can mess about with the standard oils on the market to make something that will work, but we have decided to develop a new lubricant that will be launched later in 2019«, Dal Farra says.
He continues to explain that although there are BN40 oils on the market, these are not right for modern combustion and a redevelopment of this oil needs to be done. Due to the range of fuels that we could see on the market in the future, another challenge will be to keep the engine clean, as these fuels are still an unknown factor for owners. The latest development from Total Lubmarine has taken things right back to the start again and additives that have detergency have now been added to the product.
Dal Farra highlights that there are three main options for shipowners to be compliant in the future, blended fuels, scrubbers or LNG. He adds that Total believe that LNG will take the lead as studies are showing that this fuel is coming out the most compliant for shipowners to use. Not only that but Total have also recently signed two contracts with CMA CGM to supply its nine ultra large containerships that are under construction with LNG. Preparing for the IMO 2020 Total is also working on developing a new compliant fuel for the market.
As 2020 gets close, the market is slowly taking steps to choose the right solution. Uncertainty still resides in the industry with no clear outcome until 2020, where the clear winner will be the solution that works. Steps are taken by both OEM’s and shipowners to meet with the challenges ahead.
Samantha Fisk
