Though the demand of the fuel oil in transportation sector is continuously in a good condition, the demand of the heavy oil has been reduced year by year due to promotion of the energy saving, and the energy conversion attributable to environmental problems. While the heavy oil yield from the domestic refined crude oil was about 43% in 1981, it was dropped to about 29% in 1996. This is attributable to the result that the product yield for automobiles fuels was improved by the sophisticated secondary processing facilities using the heavy oil fraction. At the same time, the quality of the residual product from the upgrading facilities which is conventionally used as the main composition of the heavy oil has been worse than the previous one.
The 39th MEPC of IMO was held in June, and concerning the fuel oils, three items namely (1) the upper limit of 5% sulfur content in general waters, (2) implementation of the monitoring of the sulfur contents in the fuel oil, and (3) designation of North Sea and Baltic Sea as the special area were agreed among the pending items in the previous Committee, and the agreement was determined to be submitted to the 40th MEPC and the diplomatic conference. In the COP-3 (The Third Conference by the Parties to the Convention of the International Federation on Climate Fluctuation) held in Kyoto in December, suppression and reduction of the greenhouse effect gas mainly consisting of carbon dioxide was discussed to prevent the global warming effect on the national level.
The quality of the marine fuel oil in Japan is designed in accordance with the Japanese Industrial Standards on heavy oil. However, there is a gap between JIS quality items and the actual quality requirements of the heavy oil for marine use, and which has not been corrected. On the other hand, in the international transaction, the standards of ISO8217 (marine fuel oil) have been popular. Thus, discussion was made to frame JIS from the ISO standards which are internationally versatile in the industrial world, and it was agreed to amend the present JIS. However, it has been pointed out that (1) the present ISO standards have no requirements on sodium which is the desired item by users, (2) the sulfur content is 5.0% in upper limit, which is higher than the present value, and (3) degradation of the quality is feared. Whether or not these items are incorporated in JIS is considered as the item of examination in the regulation works for JIS. In the literature issued in 1997,
(1) The basic courses to explain the combustion from various aspects are introduced, which is excellent references to understand the combustion technology
(2) Proposition of the fuel pretreatment system for the trouble-free use of the engine against the impurities in the fuel oil to damage the engine.
(3) Introduction of the challenge by the centralized control system of the properties of the fuel to be fed.
(4) Change in the sludge precipitation, mixture of FCC catalyst and hard-to-burn contents from the analysis report 5 years ago on the same quality items of the marine fuel oil.
(5) Introduction of the results of the property analysis of the fuel oil to be daily used on ships in service, and the present situation of the wear of the ring liner experienced on board ships in service.
(6) Introduction of the present situation of the oil pollution preventive measures and technology in Japan, the life prediction model of the outflow oil with the accident of the heavy oil outflow from MV Nakhodka as an example.
References
1) "Fundamentals of Combustion Technology", Journal of the Japan Institute of Energy, Vol. 75, No. 12 〜 VOl. 76, No. 9
2) "Reliability of Present Marine Fuels and Main Propellant Engines", Journal of the M.E.S.J., Vol. 32, No. 2
3) "Quality Control of Marine Fuels by Shipping Company", Journal of the M.E.S.J., Vol. 32, No. 2
4) "Present Condition of Heavy Marine Fuel from Point of View of Shipping Company", Journal of the M.E.S.J., Vol. 32, No. 11
5) "Fuel Oil for Low Speed Marine Diesel Engines and Some Tribological Problems", Tribologist, Vol. 42, NO. 1
6) "Present Technologies to Cope with Oil Spills", Petrotech, Vol. 20, No. 10
7) "Special Report - Marine Pollution", Journal of the Japan Institute of Energy, Vol. 76, No. 6
[Kenji TSUIKI]
9.2 Present Situation and Trend of Marine Engine Lubricants
9.2.1 Lubricating Oils for Trunk Engines
Because diesel oil is generally used in the high-speed trunk engine, the lubricating oil for large vehicles of relatively low alkaline level (the lubricating oil classified in accordance with the API standards) is used. In the region of this engine, no equipment such as the purifier to discharge the sludge, etc., outside the system is not provided, and the full volume of the lubricating oil is periodically renewed based on the engine manufacturer's stands.
