2002Award Paper 4

Improved Cylinder Lubricator*

Masaki Tanaka**

* Translated from Journal of the JIME Vol. 37, No. 2 (Manuscript received Dec. 19, 2001)
** Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (3-1-1 Tama, Tamano City, Okayama)

1.

Introduction

Cylinder lubrication for large crosshead engine is given by pressure lubrication of cylinder oil
through oil quills to cylinder liner.

The lubrication system largely differs from the cylinder

lubrication of ordinary trunk piston engine which is lubricated by splashing the system oil or
spraying the oil from nozzle.

Therefore, a large crosshead engine has an exclusive-use lubricator unit for supplying cylinder oil.
A common practice for that type of lubrication is to provide a pump shown in Table 1.

That type of

pump is called the cylinder lubricator unit.

Table 1 Conventional Cylinder Lubrication Arrangement

Type
Drive
Lubrication frequency
Cylinder oil grade

Plunger Pump.
Mechanically jointed to engine or
motor driven.
Every revolution or random.
SAE#50

Number of lubrication Proportional to cylinder diameter, e.g.,

points
10 points for 90 cm diameter.
Generally on upper 1/3 of cylinder
Lubrication quill height liner. One level or two level
arrangement are used.
Structure of quills
Generally non return valve is fitted.
The cylinder lubrication system is expected to give influence on the reliability and durability of
cylinder sliding parts.

There is, however, no widely-accepted understanding on ideal lubrication

system, and there are not many reliable field experiences and test data.

In this situation, two kinds of new cylinder lubrication systems were tested in recent years, and some
field data suggest that the reduction of cylinder oil consumption rate has been acquired without any
degradation of cylinder sliding performance. It contributes significantly to the reduction of the

quantity of supplied cylinder oil gives significant contribution to the economy of large engines. For
example, if the consumption of lubricating oil in an engine operating at 30,000 PS for 8,000 hours a
year is reduced by 0.4 g/PS/h, the annual saving of the lubricating oil becomes 100 kl.

The saving

accounts for about US$ 100 thousand a year (at 1 $/liter of lubricating oil price).

The paper describes these new cylinder lubrication systems which are expected to offer large
economic merit, and gives result of analysis on the difference from conventional cylinder lubrication
system.

2.
2.1

Conventional cylinder lubrication system

Work principle

It is clear that the conventional cylinder lubrication system is still an effective one because there are
not increasing number of defects in
cylinder parts.

Figure 1 illustrates the conventional

cylinder lubrication system.
B&W

type

engine,

the

For a
injection

duration is set from 10 to 0 before the

first piston ring passes on the oil quill.

With a mechanical cylinder lubricator

unit, the plunger stroke is varied by
controlling the return travel of plunger,
thus

adjusting

the

oiling

rate.

Reduction in the oiling rate delays the plunger start timing.

That is, the injection start timing delays

while the injection end timing is unchanged.

Even when the cylinder oil is ejected from the lubricator unit, the oil is not immediately fed into the
cylinder.

The reasons of the phenomenon are the following (in an order beginning from most

effective reason.)

1) Volume of oiling pipe

Since lubricating oil compressibility is large, there are cases that the internal pressure of cylinder
(which can be said as the backpressure for the oiling situation) is high, and that the pressure in the

oiling pipe cannot override the pressure of cylinder even by the ejection from the lubricator.

The

smaller ratio of the ejection volume to the capacity of oiling pipe, more delay of the supply from the
oiling pipe into the cylinder.

2)

Viscosity resistance

The viscosity resistance in the pipeline generates a pressure gradient, thus the pressure of injected oil
is consumed by the pressure increase in the pipeline.

If the diameter of the pipe is reduced, the

viscosity resistance increases inversely proportional to biquadrate of the pipe diameter.

3)

Delayed pressure increase caused by inertia of oil

The delay of pressure increase by the oil inertia appears because the pressure propagation speed
reaches the sound speed. In cylinder oiling, however, very little influence of the inertia on the
delay occurs because a long period is necessary until the pressure gradient in the oiling pipe
stabilizes.

2.3

Analysis of conventional cylinder lubrication

Table 2

To analyze the actual timing of feeding

Standard Calculating Condition

cylinder oil into the cylinder during the

Item

Unit

Revolution Speed

rpm

94

cylinder lubrication, a model calculation was

Output

kW/cyl.

4900

Output

PS/cyl.

6670

Inside Diameter of Lubricating Oil

Pipe

mm

5.5

Length of the Pipe

mm

4000

conducted.

Table 2 shows the standard

calculation conditions.

Value

Volume of the Pipe

mm3

95033

The oil inertia was not counted in the

Volumeric Compression Coefficient

Mpa

1000

calculation. The pressure distribution in the

Non Return Valve Cracking Pressure

MPa

0.2

Initial Oil Pressure

MPa

0.527

mm2/s

400

oiling pipe was assumed as linear in the

longitudinal direction of the pipe.

Kinematic Viscosity

These

assumptions are based on the consideration

Density of Oil

kg/mm3 0.000942

Lubricating Oil Consumption Rate

g/kW/h

1.39

Lubricating Oil Consumption Rate

g/PS/h

1.02

Calculation Interval

Crank-deg

0.5

that the flow speed of oil in the oiling pipe is

small and that the flow is a long time phenomenon which does not need the analysis of unsteady
state flow.

Figure 2 shows the calculation result under the condition of Table 2 (standard condition).

Pressure MPaOil Volumel/0.5deg

16
Cylinder Pressure MPa

14

Cylinder Pressure on Oil Quill MPa

12

Outlet Volume from Lubricator l/deg/2

Mean Pipe Pressure MPa

10

Oil Inlet Volume to Cylinder l/deg/2

8
6
4
2
0
60

90

120
150
Crank AngleA-TDC
Figure 2 Calculation Result of Cylinder Lubrication Standard
Condition (1.39 g/kW/h : 1.02 g/PS/h)

180

Both the internal pressure of cylinder and the pressure at oil quill were the observed values.

The

cylinder lubricator unit assumed that the cylinder oil is fed to the oiling pipe at a constant feed rate.
The crank angle is expressed by the angle from BDC.

The internal pressure of cylinder increases when the piston ascends.

When the first piston ring

passes through the oil quill (131 in this example), the oil quill is exposed to the pressure of the
portion beneath the piston ring.
decreases stepwise.

From the first piston ring to the fourth piston ring, the pressure

This indicates that the rings successively pass through the oil quill.

With the supply of oil from the cylinder lubricator unit, the internal pressure of the oiling pipe
increases.

However, the oil does not enter the cylinder unless the following condition is

established:

Internal pressure of oiling pipe > Pressure at oil quill + Pressure difference at non-return valve

According to the example, at the crank angle 130 when the lubricator unit completed the supply of
cylinder oil, the internal pressure of oiling pipe does not satisfy the above-given condition. As a
result, the oil cannot be supplied to the cylinder.

At the crank angle 131 when the first piston ring passed through the oil quill, the pressure at oil

quill begins to decrease, then the oil begins to enter the cylinder.
supplied oil volume increases.

When the second ring passed, the

After the fourth ring passed, the supply of cylinder oil continues

owing to the residual pressure in the oiling pipe.

Under the above-given condition, before the piston ring passes through the oil quill, the cylinder oil
fed above the piston ring is zero, and 38% of the cylinder oil is supplied between piston rings and
62% is supplied to the portion beneath the piston ring.

The case described above is for a cylinder oiling rate of 1.39 g/kW/h (1.02 g/PS/h).
cylinder oiling rate increases, the supply state becomes the one given in Figure 3.

When the
That is, the

percentage of oil supplied to the portion above the piston ring (before piston ring passes) increases,
the percentage of oil supplied to the portion between the piston rings does not change significantly,
and the percentage of oil supplied to the portion beneath the piston ring (after piston ring passed)

Pressure MPaOil Volumel/0.5deg

decreases.

16
14

Cylinder Pressure MPa

Cylinder Pressure on Oil Quill MPa

12

Outlet Volume from Lubricator l/deg/2

10

Mean Pipe Pressure MPa

Oil Inlet Volume to Cylinder l/deg/2

8
6
4
2
0
60

90

120

150

180

Crank AngleA-TDC
Figure 3 Calculation Result of Cylinder Lubrication Large
Consumption (2.04 g/kW/h : 1.51 g/PS/h)

Inversely, if the cylinder oiling rate decreases, the situation becomes as given in Figure 4. That is, the
oiling timing delays to decrease the percentage of oil supplied to the first piston ring, and increase
the percentage of oil supplied to the second and succeeding piston rings.

Pressure MPaOil Volumel/0.5deg

16
Cylinder Pressure MPa

14

Cylinder Pressure on Oil Quill MPa

12

Outlet Volume from Lubricator l/deg/2

10

Oil Inlet Volume to Cylinder l/deg/2

Mean Pipe Pressure MPa

8
6
4
2
0
60

90

120
150
Crank AngleA-TDC

180

Figure 4 Calculation Result of Cylinder Lubrication

Small Consumption (0.96 g/kW/h : 0.71 g/PS/h)
Table 3 Summary of Model Calculation with Conventional Lubricator
Caculating Condition

Lubrication
Type

Oil Consumption
Rate

Oil
Viscosity

Pipe
Length

Pipe
Diameter

g/kW/h g/PS/h

cSt

mm

Above

Oil Supply % on Ring Land

Between Beneath

Higher Consumption

Conventional

2.05

1.51

400

5.5

17

34

49

Lower Consumption

Conventional

0.97

0.71

400

5.5

33

67

Standard

Conventional

1.39

1.02

400

5.5

38

62

High Viscosity

Conventional

1.39

1.02

800

5.5

21

79

Long Pipe

Conventional

1.39

1.02

400

5.5

94

Short Pipe

Conventional

1.39

1.02

400

7.7

31

69

Calculation was also given to the cases of high viscosity of cylinder oil, of large diameter of oiling
pipe, and of long oiling pipe.

Table 3 summarizes the result of calculations in terms of percentage

of oil fed above, between, and beneath the piston ring.

For the extended length of oiling pipe, the

pipe capacity increases and the viscosity resistance increases, thus the delay in cylinder lubrication
increases.

For the large diameter oiling pipe, the oiling response becomes favorable, and swift

oiling is attained owing to the reduction in pressure at the oil quill.

The increased diameter of

oiling pipe, however, increases the capacity of the oiling pipe to fail in increase of internal pressure
of the oiling pipe, thus, the oiling does not occur immediately after the first ring passed through the
oil quill, and the oil enters the cylinder only after the second ring passed to decrease the pressure.

As described above, according to the conventional lubricator unit, the oil is difficult to enter the
portion above the piston ring, and the oil is supplied by about one third of the volume between the

piston rings, and balance of the oil is supplied beneath the piston ring.

3.
3.1

High speed lubrication

Work principle

Piston ring is considered a kind of wiper.

The oil fed to the portion above the piston ring is wiped

up by the piston ring to reach the upper portion of the cylinder, and is left at the top dead center, then
is vaporized and degraded in a high temperature atmosphere.

On the other hand, the oil fed to the

portion beneath the piston ring is wiped down by the piston ring, and a part of the fed oil may be
dropped to drain. Although not all the fed oil is workless, (if so, the engine will be seized), the oil
which was fed above or beneath the piston ring may not significantly contribute to the lubrication.

On the other hand, the oil fed to the portion between the piston rings should be held between the
rings to keep the function for a long period.

Based on the above-described concept, a new lubrication system was derived to supply maximum
volume of oil between the piston rings.

The new lubrication system is given by a unit currently

called the Alpha lubricator which is also the trade name.

In this paper, the system is called the

High speed lubricator.

The high speed lubricator supplies more oil between the piston rings than conventional lubricator by
the lubrication system given below.
(1)

Volume of cylinder oil for every injection is increased;

(2)

Large volume of oil is charged to the oiling pipe at a stroke, thus sufficiently increasing the

internal pressure of oiling pipe; and

(3)

The oil is supplied at a correct timing, within a short time, and overriding the internal pressure

of cylinder.

Figure 5 shows the structure of the high speed lubricator unit.

A single lubricator unit has five or six plungers, which plungers are driven by a single hydraulic
piston.

If every cylinder has seven or more lubrication openings, two of the lubricator units are

installed.

The hydraulic pressure is controlled by solenoid valves.

A portion of the return oil is fed to the

plunger barrel via a slit for succeeding oiling

cycle.

Accordingly, the working oil is the

cylinder oil.

The movement of hydraulic piston is monitored

by a feedback sensor, a proximity sensor, to
confirm the oiling functioning and to watch the
oiling timing to automatically adjust the timing.

Figure 6 shows the total system of high speed

lubrication.

The control is performed by a controller

provided with a computer.

Both the rotational

angle and the pump lack signal are entered the

controller.

With the entered information, the

oiling volume and the oiling timing are adjusted.

The timing for initiate the oiling action is immediately before the first piston ring passes through the
oil quill.

Within a short period until the fourth ring passes, the oil is fed to the cylinder as large

volume as possible.

As a result, the volume of oil fed in one cycle increases,

thus the oil is not fed at every revolution, and intermittent
lubrication is given to adjust the oiling volume.

The

number of oiling cycles is controlled by the computer to

give the designed volume as the total.

Figure 7 compares the oiling valve having a cylinder in

the high speed lubricator unit with the conventional one.
Similar with the conventional type, the oiling valve is a
non-return valve.

However, the new valve differs from

the conventional one at the front nozzle.

That is, the oil is sprayed along the cylinder wall, or in the

horizontal direction, not in the radial direction of the cylinder.

Under normal operation, the oil

supply is given at the piston passing time so that even a straight nozzle can feed oil to the piston ring
and to the ring land.

However, at priming and in timer control mode in case of failing in the control

computer, the piston is not necessarily comes the oil quill, and the oil may be injected in air.
Therefore, the design is given so as the ejected oil to reach the cylinder wall even when the piston
does not reach the oil quill.

3.2

Analysis of high speed cylinder lubrication

Figure 8 shows the result of model calculation for the high speed cylinder lubrication.
conditions of calculation are the same with those in conventional type.

The

To perform large volume

oiling at a time, the inside diameter of the oiling pipe was enlarged. The oiling rate was set to 1.39
g/kW/h, or the standard condition described above.

The oiling cycle was one every four

revolutions, and the injection amount was the sum of the four revolutions.

16

70

14

Outlet Volume from Lubricator l/deg/2

Oil Inlet Volume to Cylinder l/deg/2

50

12

Cylinder Pressure MPa

Cylinder Pressure on Lubrication Quills MPa

10

Mean Pipe Pressure MPa

40

8
30
6
20

Pressure MPa

Oil Volume l/0.5deg

60

10

0
60

90

120
150
Crank Angle-

180

Figure 8 Analytical result of High Speed Cylinder Lubrication

Standard Condition (1.39 g/kW/h : 1.02 g/PS/h)
Table 4 Summary of Model Calculation with High Speed Lubricator
Caculating
Condition

Lubrication
Type

Oil Consumption
Oil
Rate
Viscosity
g/kW/h g/PS/h

Pipe
Length

Pipe
Diameter

cSt

mm

Above

Oil Supply % on Ring Land

Between Beneath

Standard

Conventional

1.39

1.02

400

5.5

38

62

Standard

High Speed

1.39

1.02

400

7.7

71

27

High Viscosity

High Speed

1.39

1.02

800

7.7

52

48

Long Pipe

High Speed

1.39

1.02

400

7.7

21

79

Table 4 shows the result of calculation of high speed lubrication model.

Compared with the

conventional type, the percentage of fed oil between the piston rings increased.

The above-given analytical results suggest that the high speed cylinder lubrication supplies larger
volume of oil between the piston rings.

3.3

Reliability of system

Different from conventional mechanical system, the high speed lubrication system is controlled by
an electronics circuit having a computer.

The electronics controller is fabricated to endure

particularly the environment in engine room.

10

As a result, the system has acquired main

classification society approvals and has a highly reliable structure.

In case of functional failure of

the computer, the system can continue the lubrication by automatic functioning of a backup
electronics circuit.

The solenoid valves are general use type hydraulic control service so that they have high reliability
and durability, and no failure has occurred in field services.

The high durability presumably comes

from the use of clean oil and the short magnetization period of coil to reduce the heat generation thus
reducing the degradation of coil.

3.4

Controlling mode of the oiling rate

The simplest control method is the method of proportional to rotational speed, which is the
conventional method.
control.

There are, however, various control modes utilizing the merit of electronics

Control linking with torque, load, load variations, hydrographic conditions, etc. may be

easily actualized if only these variable can be entered.

3.5

Economy

Compared with conventional lubricator unit, the new lubricator unit has an electronics control
section and a hydraulics source, which increase the cost.

On the other hand, the new lubricator unit

has advantages of simple structure, absence of driving shaft, and versatility in installation space.
Since the mechanical section has common parts independent of apparatus classes, the mass
production in the future should decrease the cost.

If the consumption of oil decreases by the

adoption of the new lubricator unit, the increased initial cost will be fully compensated.

3.7

Maintenance

Since the working environment is clean, the lubricator unit is expected to serve for almost unlimited
period, similar with the conventional unit.

The maintenance is required on the check and cleaning

of oil filter and the filling of accumulator with gas.

3.8

3.8.1

Demonstration test of high speed lubricator unit

Case 1 of Application

11

Figure 9 shows the state of the

high speed cylinder lubrication
applied

to

cylinder

12K80MC-GI-S engine.

of
The

existed conventional lubricator

unit was left in the place for
ready service, and a new high
speed cylinder lubricator unit
was added, thus the oiling is
available from both units.

The

engine was a gas injection diesel

engine which used a low base
number lubricating oil.

The

standard

was

oiling

rate

relatively low, 1.05 g/kW/h (0.75

g/PS/h).

The

high

speed

lubricator unit was operated for

4500 hours.

Figure 10 shows

the consumption of lubricating

oil, LOC, in cylinder with time
for the high speed lubricator unit. To the standard oiling rate, the condition was 0.75 g/kW/h (0.55
g/PS/h), decreased by 30%.

More than 2000 hours have passed in continuous operation, giving

favorable cylinder state.

Lubricating Oil Consumption,

g/kW/h

2.5

2.0

1.5

O ct 2001

1.0

0.5

0.0
0

1000

2000

3000

4000

Running time, hour

Figure 10 12K80MC-GI-S LOC reduction history
Case 1

12

Figure 11 shows the observed values of oiling pressure on applying the high speed lubricator unit.
The internal pressure of oiling pipe increased at the timing of passing the piston ring, which shows
that the oiling was done between the piston rings.

3.8.1

Case 2 of Application

Figure 12 shows the state that high speed cylinder lubrication was applied to the 6S70MC engine.
Figure 13 shows the total system.

The engine is the main machine of ore carrier.

to two cylinders among six cylinders.

The high speed cylinder lubricator unit was applied

Similar with the Case 1, conventional lubricator unit was not

removed, and the piping was given to allow using both units.

Figure 14 shows the variations of oiling rate with time.

13

After mounting the new lubricator unit, the

engine has been operating over 8000 hours.

to 1.20 g/kW/h (0.90 g/PS/h).

The No. 2 cylinder decreased the cylinder oiling rate

The rate corresponds to 25% reduction from the standard level of

1.62 g/kW/h (1.20 g/PS/h). The cylinder keeps favorable state.

During the operation, the oiling

rate was increased owing to the supply of poor quality fuel. After that, however, the oiling rate was
decreased to current level of 1.22 g/kW/h (0.9 g/PS/h), and the operation has been proceeding in a

Lubricating Oil Consumption

g/kW/h

favorable state.
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
O ct 2001

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Running time, hour

Figure 14 6S70MC LOC reduction history
Case 2

Figure 15 shows the state of piston ring. The condition of No. 1 and No. 2 cylinders equipped with
the high speed lubricator unit are favorable similar with other cylinders.

The above-described on-board tests showed that the high speed cylinder lubrication is expected to
reduce the cylinder oiling rate without degrading the cylinder condition.

14

4.

SIP cylinder lubrication

Different from the high speed cylinder lubrication, the SIP cylinder lubrication aims to form thin and
uniform oil film by spraying cylinder oil against the wall of cylinder liner.[1]

The term SIP is the abbreviation of Swirl Injection Principle, which name was presented by Mr.
Dragsted of A.P.Moller.

It was told that Mr. Dragsted hit on the principle when he saw that the mist

of sprayed antiseptic solution was blown by the wind and was attached to trees.

As illustrated in Figure 16, the lubricating oil is sprayed from oiling nozzle, and the sprayed droplets
are carried by the sweeping swirl air to spread over the upper slant area. The sprayed oil covers the
wide area on the inner wall of cylinder liner.

The existed non-return valve was

replaced by an injection valve. The
conventional

lubricator

unit

was

operated to charge the oil to the

injection valve to spray the oil.

For

the lubricator unit body, a part of the

mechanical section was modified to
increase the supply pressure.

The system has already been used

on-board for 20,000 hours.

There is

a report of operation giving 0.60

g/kW/h (0.44 g/PS/h) of oiling rate
and 0.013 mm/1000h of wear of
cylinder liner.

6.

Conclusion

Conventional mechanical lubricator unit supplies large volume of lubricating oil to the portion
beneath the piston ring, and the oil is doubtful in efficient contribution to the cylinder lubrication.

To improve the disadvantage, the high speed and high pressure lubrication system (Alpha system)
and the SIP lubrication system have been developed. Both systems show favorable performance

15

through the on-board testing.

Adoption of those types of lubricator units should efficiently utilize

the lubricating oil which was wasted in cylinder, thus reducing the total amount of lubricating oil
supply.

7.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to express appreciation to Mr. Tetsugo Fukuda of G.I.D Co., Ltd. and to Mr.
Takeshi Takemoto of Daishin Ship Co., Ltd. for their cooperation to on-board testing.

REFERENCES

[1] Jensen, T., "Swirl Injection Lubrication Low Cylinder Oil Consumption without Sacrificing Wear
Rates", Journal of JIME, 37-2(2002)125

Message of the author

Masaki Tanaka

Fifty years from now, do people travel by airplanes ?

Isnt it that ships of high energy efficiency are the future transporting means ?
Even at present, 99 wt.% of materials entering Japan are carried by ships.

I really hope that people

who engage in marine transportation play a role of supporting and driving the future world with
proud.

(Original:Journal of The Japan Institution of Marine Engineering Vol.37 No.2 2002;Japanese)

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