CCAI RELATED BUNKER PROBLEMS.

In these days oI burning residual Iuels in our ships, various types oI Iuel related problems
occur.
These can, while being evident, be a considerable pain in the neck` Ior the engine crew
and Ior the operator oI the vessel.
Hence, the measures to be taken Irom the owner`s side to avoid these hick-ups are to
speciIy as appropriate as possible the grade oI Iuel required Ior his` engine.
And in case oI a dispute, to be a subscriber to a recognised Iuel analysing scheme.
Sampling procedures Ior received Iuel should be accepted by all involved parties.

Let us dwell Ior a moment on the issue oI ordering bunkers and the speciIication that
normally is submitted to ensure the correct grade is received on board.
A number oI parameters are normally mentioned, such as; density max, viscosity max,
sulphur max, pour point etc.
There is however a parameter rarely being mentioned in these speciIications and that is
the CCAI, Calculated Carbon Aromaticity Index, which gives a value on the Ignition
Quality Ior residual Iuels, since these grades cannot be veriIied by methods used Ior
distillates, i.e. Diesel Index, Cetane Index and Cetane Number.

Accepted method Ior determination oI the ignition quality oI residual Iuels is currently
not available.
It has, however, been empirically established that there is a relationship between the
density, the viscosity and the ignition perIormance and the Shell-developed CCAI is the
one presently most accepted Ior indicating ignition delay, although there is also a BP-
developed Calculated Ignition Index (CII).
CCAI gives an idea oI how much the ignition is delayed, the higher the index, the longer
the delay.
The CCAI can be determined, with limited accuracy, by the enclosed nomogram AAAA



The combustion starts with a short delay already when a small amount oI the Iuel has
been injected and thereIore the remaining quantity injected burns in a controlled manner.
II, however, the delay is long, a large amount is injected beIore the combustion starts,
producing a quick and violent raise oI pressure. This produces the characteristic 'diesel
knock.
The problem is generally related to medium speed diesel engines when burning blended
Iuels less than 220 cSt. and problems seems to appear in the CCAI-span 850-890.
See enclosed diagram BBBB
II it is required (necessary) to operate the engine within this span the stresses on the
engine components might increase considerably and special attention should be paid to:

Connecting rod big-end and bearing shells.
Main bearing shells
Pistons(particularly composite pistons)
Piston rings and liners
Cylinder head with studs and gaskets
Tie bolts
Intake and exhaust valves
To alleviate the eIIect oI the ignition delay, the ambition should be to keep the engine
load within 50 - 85 and to maintain the inlet air temperature as high as practically
possible and through pre-heating prior start-up(the CCAI problems are accentuated on a
cooler engine, hence a known scenario is the vessel makes it to port but the engine can
not be restarted upon departure due to Iouled/clogged piston rings, poppet valves and
turbocharger).
With the violent increase oI combustion pressure, when operating on Iuels delaying the
ignition, the rate oI blow-by will increase and it goes without saying that the lub.oil
quality must be optimal to cope with the additional load imposed on the bearings.

So, by way oI conclusion, iI the shipowner is operating engines which are sensitive to
ignition quality he would be wise to order Iuels with a CCAI limit or to set density and
viscosity limits which will control the CCAI.
Special care to CCAI is needed when a ship is Iorced to use low viscosity Iuels (below
180 cSt), due to heating limitations. II the density oI these Iuels is high the CCAI will be
too high and ignition problems may be encountered.




990204/KA