is that Intrinsically Safe Cameras Used on Ships?

                                      yes  its being used in tanker vessels.....In recent observations by vetting inspectors during tanker ship inspections, use of digital cameras on ships has been regarded as “High Risk” Observation. With tankers safety matters attaining paramount importance in the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), a number of steps have been considered to make oil tanker operations safer.

As per the IACS Paper no. 72(2000) Rev. Oct.2003 and April,2007 – Confined Space Safe Practice - Use of non-explosion proof equipment like cameras, torches, chipping hammers, may be allowed provided that it is stated in the Entry permit issued and the space is safe for hot work or safe for workers and LEL is measured to 0%.

The Biggest Deep Water Port in the World

              Yangshan Deep Water Port

Built to allow the Port of Shanghai to grow despite shallow waters near the shore, it allows berths with depths of up to 15 metres (49 ft) to be built, and can handle today's largest container ships.It is connected to the mainland via the 32.5 km (20.2 mi) Donghai Bridge, opened on 1 December 2005 as the world's longest sea bridge. The six-lane highway bridge took 6,000 workers two and half years to construct. 

The Yangshan Deep Water Port is one of the three major constituents of the Shanghai Port, one of the busiest port facilities in the world. Considered as the world’s biggest deep water port, Yangshan is built on the islands of Greater and Lesser Yangshan and is connected to the mainland through the world’s largest sea bridge – Donghai Bridge.

heat exchanger

Shell type Heat Exchangers:

Sell and Tube Heat Exchangers for engine jacket water and lubricating oil cooling are normally circulated with seawater. The seawater is in contact with the inside of the tubes and the water boxes at the cooler ends. The oil or water being cooled is in contact with the outside of the tubes and he shell of the cooler. Baffles direct the liquid across the tubes as it flows through the cooler. the baffles also support the tubes.

Tubes of Aluminium-brass (76% copper; 22% zinc; 2% aluminium) are commonly used. The remedy in these systems is to fit sacrificial soft iron or mild steel anodes in water boxes or to introduce iron in the form of ferrous sulphate fed into the seawater. The latter treatment consists of dosing the seawater to a strength of 1 ppm for an hour per day over a few weeks and subsequently to dose before entering and after leaving port for a short period.

Early tube failures may be due to pollution in coastal waters or to turbulence in some cases. Many coolers are fitted with tubes of 70/30 Cupro-Nickel. More expensive materials are available. Tubes are expanded into tube plates and may be further bonded by soldering.

CMA CGM buying 50,000 bamboo eco-containers

The CMA CGM MARCO POLO, the world’s largest containership (16 020 TEU), is equipped with the latest environmental technological innovations. The CMA CGM Group has finalized the purchase of 50, 000 bamboo eco-containers.  

INNOVATIVE SHIPS

The CMA CGM Marco Polo will soon be followed by the delivery of the CMA CGM Alexander Von Humboldt and the CMA CGM Jules Verne in May and June 2013, all three carrying the following equipment:

- An electronically controlled engine which significantly reduces CO2 emissions

- An “Exhaust Gas Bypass” system, which improves the energetic efficiency of the vessel when slow steaming, reducing CO2 emissions by 1.5% at low speeds.

- A twisted leading edge rudder improving the hydrodynamics of the vessel (optimisation of the water flow) and significantly reducing energy expenditures as well as CO2 emissions.

- A Pre-Swirl Stator® which straightens the water flow upstream from the propeller in order to improve its efficiency. Combined with the twisted leading edge rudder, this innovation optimizes the hydrodynamics of the vessel and makes it possible to reduce by 2 to 4% energy consumption of and atmospheric emissions.

- An optimized hull design significantly improving the propulsion of the vessel into the water.

- A ballast water treatment system, to preserve the biodiversity of the oceans.

Other innovations show the commitment of CMA CGM regarding its vessel fleet which include the Fast Oil Recovery System, the emergency towing system, the trash compactor combined with the sorting of recyclables and additional tanks for treating bilge, engine and grey waters.

CMA CGM Group is also working with shipyards and ranking agencies such as Bureau Veritas and DNV on several projects of LNG-fuelled containerships.

O2 REDUCTION

As part of its environmental policy, the CMA CGM Group is committed to reducing its emissions (CO2, sulfur), to limit the impact of its activities.

In 2012, the CO2 performance of the Group improved by 6%. Since 2005, the Group has reduced its CO2 emissions by 37% per container transported and per km, making it the most impressive reduction in the history of the industry and is aiming for a reduction of 50% by 2015.

In order to cut back its sulfur emissions, it chooses to use a fuel of a higher quality than required by the current regulation, with sulfur concentration estimated at 2.57% (or lower in certain areas), instead of 3.5%.

Intelligent Cylinder Lubrication for Modern Marine Engines

The main reason for developing hi tech cylinder lubrication system is to reduce the operational costs of the engine. Moreover, the most expensive lubricating oil is generally used for the engine’s combustion chamber as cylinder lube oil. 
– MAN Diesel and Wartsila have introduced a remarkable technology for modern electronically controlled marine engines

In this article we will understand what does pulse lubrication means and how it helps to reduce the cylinder oil feed rate and eventually the operating costs of the ship.

Wartsila- A major player in the marine engine manufacturing industry has introduced an intelligent cylinder lubrication system in its electronically controlled engine

Construction and Working of Pulse Lubrication System

• There are normally eight quills attached to the cylinder liner in a single row, which gets the oil supply from the electronically controlled dosage pump

• The oil is supplied to the dosage pump from daily tank via fine filter of 40 microns

• The quills consist of a duct passage to store metered quantity of oil. The area of this duct passage and the quantity of oil can be altered by changing the position of the central piston

• There are crank angle sensors attached to the engine which give signals to the control unit in order to  inject oil at the correct position of piston movement

• 200 bar high pressure servo oil reduced to 50 bars are supplied to the lubricator unit, which pressurises the centre piston in the quills. This injects oil inside the liner at adequate pressure for even distribution

• WECS (Wartsila Engine Control System) which is the master controller of the Pulse lubrication system controls the solenoid valve opening and the oil injection

Each unit is provided with 8 lubricating quills, 2 piping systems of Cylinder oil and servo oil, and A 4/2 solenoid valve to servo oil flow.

After receiving signal from the crank angle sensor, at the correct position i.e. between the pack of piston rings, WECS allows the solenoid valve to open and pass the servo oil. This in turn presses the central piston and delivers the oil stored in the duct passage of the quills.

As soon as the injection is over, there is a small orifice which fills the duct passage again with the cylinder oil as the central piston moves backward. This ensures that the oil is always present in the chamber in metered quantity as decided by the WECS after calculating load and sulphur content of the fuel.

Benefits of Pulse Lubrication System:

1.Reduction in Cylinder oil Feed rate –up to 0.7 gm/kwh and thus reduction in operating cost

2.Well précised delivery of metered cylinder oil giving better lubrication to piston ring and liner

3.Better distribution of oil within the liner

4.Less fouling of combustion space

5.Less fouling of scavenge space

Fuel Polishing

Fuel Polishing:

Fuel polishing is the process of removing contamination such as water and particles from fuel to ensure that it remains in line with fuel specifications. Ideally, fuel should have an ISO particle code of 18/16/13 and a dissolved water content no greater than 200 parts per million. There should be no free or emulsified water present. 

Fuel polishing will ensure that the fuel is 'clean and dry' meaning free from water and dirt thereby reducing the possibility of engine or fuel system damage

Diesel fuel can become contaminated not only in your fuel tank but on its way from the refinery. Impurities, rust, and even tar build up can cause a wide range of issues with marine engine injection systems. Even "pure" diesel fuel in a clean tank can become contaminated as it oxidizes, resulting in paraffin and asphalt.

There are many companies who can pump your fuel out, polish and pump the diesel back into your tank. This can be time consuming and worst of all, expensive


On board fuel polishing systems are one of the easiest ways to save money.  Keeping fuel clean will result in better combustion, reduced maintenance costs, and less waste.  Together these help us to a greener earth.  There are several models of onboard fuel polishing/transfer systems to choose from.

Now we will see the line diagram of a typical fuel polishing system:

Day Tanks:

It is important to remember that the clean and dry fuel in the day tank will be exposed to the same conditions that cause the fuel in the main storage tank to become bad. Given enough time, the fuel in the day tank will get to the same condition as the fuel in the main tank. A filter and a water separator are still required on the outlet of the day tank.

To provide the desired results, this tank must, in fact, be a "Day Tank." That is, the fuel in this tank must remain there for only a short time. All the problems of long-time fuel storage in the main tank will be present in the day tank if fuel remains in it for long periods of time. Once it ceases to be a "Day Tank" it must be treated just like any other tank.

Fuel Filters:

It's important when considering fuel filters that you choose the correct micron rating. The smaller the micron rating, the more filtration you can expect. You will have to frequently check and or replace a low micron filter; however, you will also filter more of the impurities out of your diesel fuel. Or, for a more advanced system, use a two-stage filter system, with the first filter being a larger micron rating.

Fuel Pump Selection:

 Walbro pump is used,It's a Holley universal EFI in-line electric fuel pump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzlb3Jp46NU

Utilizing the System:

How often should you use the fuel polishing system? During the warmer months it's advised to cycle your fuel through the filtration system at least twice a week

What is Power Balancing of Marine Engines?

The efficiency of the overall ship depends a lot on the efficiency of the engine running . One of the important factors to ensure efficiency of marine engines is to control the power produced from each of its cylinder. The process of making fine adjustments to achieve equal power from all engine cylinders is known as power balancing.

Power balancing of engines is carried out by making minor adjustment to fuel pumps of individual cylinders. The quantity of fuel injected in the cylinder plays the most important role in power balancing.

The small adjustments made to the fuel pumps should be such that the units are not overloaded and the exhaust temperature doesn’t go beyond the safe limits. It is therefore necessary to be extremely careful while carrying out adjustments for power balancing.

Important Points While Carrying out Power Balancing of marine engines:

1. Individual units are not overloaded
2. Exhaust temperature of the units do not rise above the acceptable levels

Things to check while making Adjustments for Power Balancing:

1. Fuel pump rack position
2. Exhaust and cooling water return temperatures for each cylinder of marine engine
3. Measurements from indicator diagram
4. VIT adjustment

It is to note that not all cylinder units show equal exhaust temperatures. However, for each engine the figures follow a certain path which can help in accessing a situation. Peak or maximum pressure of the cylinders should also be checked along with cylinder temperatures.

If proper care is not taken during power balancing, the marine engine can become unbalanced, leading to other serious problems.

 Unbalanced situation of the engine might lead to:

1. Overloading of bearings and running gears
2. Piston blow past
3. Overheated or piston seizure
4. Vibration followed by fatigue
5. Fatigue cracking in bearings, studs, or bolts
6. Cracking in crankshaft
7. Failure of holding down bolts

If you are the watching keeping officer, you must check the following things to ensure smooth power balancing of marine engine:

1. Check relevant temperature and pressures (exhaust and cooling return temperatures)
2. Check lubricating oil and turbo charger pressures
3. Check for any unusual noise or vibration
4. Keep an eye on the exhaust for any kind of smoke
5. Check if the turbocharger is running smoothly without surging or panting
6. Check fuel pump settings
7. Measure clearances and timings of fuel pumps when engine is not working
8. Ensure that fuel injectors are changed at regular intervals of time after cleaning and testing. A faulty injector would not only cause loss in power but would also lead to overloading of other cylinders as the governor would try to maintain the normal total power output
9. Carry out maintenance of the marine engine at regular interval of time and note down any deviation from the normal running speed
10. Any error found should be rectified at the earliest.

Do you have any more important information on power balancing of marine engines? Kindly share it with others in comments below.

What are Breaking-In and Running-In?

A two stroke or a four stroke marine engines require time-to-time maintenance for efficient and break free operation. When ever there is a change or renewal in the major combustion parts of the engine i.e. piston or liner and if the engine has gone under complete life time, then it is put back in operation under step running programmes known as “Breaking in” and “Running in”.

                                                                                 

Why Breaking in and Running in?

The newly fitted liner, piston, or piston rings are machined prepared in the workshop ashore. They have surface asperities and there is no bedding between the moving surface i.e. liner and rings.

Under such situations, if proper step running is not followed then it may lead to heavy blow past of combustion gases. The blow past can be dangerous as it can lead to scavenge fire. Hence initially a step running program is required for newly fitted piston, piston rings and line'

Breaking in:

It is a short period of running of the marine engines under no load so that the piston rings are allowed to seat and lubricated properly.Breaking in is carried out to achieve maximum wear rate. If low sulphur fuel or marine diesel oil is used, the breaking in period will increase. A low jacket water temperature is maintained to increase the rate of wear.

An average breaking-in time for a four stroke engine is 48 hours.

Running in:

Just like breaking in, the running in schedules are also provided in the engine manuals and differ for parts to parts.In two stroke engine, the cylinder lubrication is kept in higher side in terms of oil quantity for proper lubrication of piston rings and liner.For four stroke engines with common sump lubrication, low TBN lube oil is used initially and after 30 % of load, the new recommended oil is used.

If the proper Breaking In and Running In period is not followed after the maintenance, it may lead to blow past of the combustion gases, leading to scavenge fire. It can lead to heavy scuffing resulting in increase in liner wear.

Did you sign the petition ? You need not be a mariner. But can vote for a good cause..

 click this link :
http://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/job-crunch-for-new-graduates-in-shipping
 do it and this can be helpfull for our maritime industries and  upcoming seafarers

Sulzer RT Flex Marine Diesel Engine

The common rail system :

Although common-rail fuel injection is certainly not a new idea, it has only become truly practical in recent years through the use of fully-integrated electronic control based on high-performance computers which allow the best use to be made of the flexibility possible with common-rail injection. 

Sulzer low-speed engines have long had the benefits of double valve-controlled fuel injection pumps with variable injection timing (VIT), and a degree of variable exhaust valve timing being achieved hydraulically in the VEC system, the variation in timing so obtained has been very limited. 

The common-rail concept was adopted also because it has the advantage that the functions of pumping and injection control are separated.

The common-rail concept thus provides an ideal basis for the application of a fully-integrated electronic control. The combined flexibilities of common rail and electronic control provide improved low-speed operation, engine acceleration, balance between cylinders, load control, and longer times between overhauls. They also ensure better combustion at all operating speeds and loads, giving benefits in lower fuel consumption, lower exhaust emissions in terms of both smokeless operation at all operating speeds and less NOx, emissions, and also a cleaner engine internally with less deposits of combustion residues. Engine diagnostics are built into the system, improving engine monitoring, reliability and availability.

Supply unit:

               

The supply unit is naturally at the location of the gear drive: at the driving end for five- to seven-cylinder engines, and at the mid gear drive for greater cylinder numbers. The supply unit has a rigid housing of GGG-grade nodular cast iron. The fuel supply pumps are arranged on one side of the drive gear and the hydraulic servo-oil pumps are on the other side. This pump arrangement allows a very short, compact supply unit with reasonable service access. The numbers, size and arrangement of pumps are adapted to the engine type and the number of engine cylinders. For RT Flex Sizes I and IV, the supply unit is equipped with between four and eight fuel supply pumps arranged in Vee from. The size O supply unit, however, has just two or three supply pumps in-line.The fuel supply pumps are driven through a camshaft with three-lobe cams. This camshaft cannot be compared with the traditional engine camshaft. It is very short and much smaller diameter, and is quite differently loaded. There is no sudden, jerk action as in fuel injection pumps but rather the pump plungers have a steady reciprocating motion. With tri-lobe cams and the speed-increasing gear drive, each fuel supply pump makes several strokes during each crankshaft revolution.  engines with up to eight cylinders, the rail unit is assembled as a single unit. With greater numbers of cylinders, the engines have a mid gear drive and the rail unit is in two sections according to the position of the mid gear drive in the engine he fuel common rail provides storage volume for the fuel oil, and has provision for damping pressure waves. The common rail system is designed with very high safety margins against material fatigue. The high-pressure rail is trace heated from the ship's heating system, using either steam or thermal oil. The simplification of the fuel rail for Size IV, without intermediate flanges, compared with that for Size I allowed the trace heating piping also to be simplified. The trace heating piping and the insulation are both slimmer, allowing easier service access inside the rail unit.