Technical Information

Engine Group Engine Type Ref. Date Issue Document No. Page
2-STROKE MAN-STX 2-STROKE July,2011 1 TI2011002 1(3)

Action code : COMMERCIAL /

In general, satisfactory service experience is obtained using
normal BN70-80 cylinder oils as per the below list in
FOR INFO
connection with today’s bunker fuel oils fulfilling ISO 8217 or
a similar standard. Cylinder Oils for MC
However, some recent cases have shown problems when Engines Operating on
Low Sulphur Fuels
using BN70 cylinder oils in connection with frequent
bunkering of low sulphur fuels, with a sulphur content of
0.8% to 1.5%.
Concerns
Owners and Operators of STX Two-stroke MC

Cylinder lube oil Engines.

Requirement SAE 50/BN 70-80

Oil company Brand

Elf Talusia HR70
BP CLO 50-M
Castrol S/DZ 70 cyl.
Chevron Delo Cyloil Special
Exxon Exxmar X70
Mobil Mobilgard 570
Shell Alexia 50
Texaco Taro Special

Fig. 1: Cylinder oils for low speed marine engines

Fig. 1 shows typical lube oils recommended for use on marine

applications together with the fuel oils specified in Fig. 2.
In order to control and prevent sulphur corrosion, it
has become the industry standard for marine engines to use
cylinder lubricants with a BN of 70-80 in combination with the
average marine fuels as per Fig. 2.

STX Engine STX Heavy Industries STX Dalian Engine STX Metal STX Marine Service
80, Seongsan-dong,Changwon 66-5,Sinchon-dong,Changwon Bachagou,Changxing Island 452-7,Nae-dong,Changwon 17F, STX Panocean Bldg
Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea Harbor Industrial Zone Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea 83-5, 4-ga,Jungang-dong,Jung-gu
641-315 641-371 Dalian,China,116318 641-050 Busan, 600-725, Korea
 Technical Information
Guiding specification (maximum values) Typical marine average
Density at 15 °C
kg/m3 ≤ 1010 990
Kinematic viscosity
at 50 °C
cSt ≤ 700 180 or 380
Flash point
°C ≥ 60 90
Pour point
°C ≤ 30 10
Carbon residue
%(m/m) ≤ 22 10
Ash
%(m/m) ≤ 0.15 0.01
Total sediment after
%(m/m) ≤ 0.10 0.05
ageing
%(v/v) ≤ 1.0 0.3
Water
%(m/m) ≤ 5.0 3
Sulphur
mg/kg ≤ 600 150
Vanadium
mg/kg ≤ 80 35
Aluminium + Silicon
Equal to ISO 8217/CIMAC – H55
m/m = mass v/v = volume
Fig. 2: Guiding specification and typical properties for marine fuel oils

Service experience
As mentioned, incompatibility, using BN70 in connection with frequent bunkering of low sulphur fuels, has led to some
cases of cylinder condition problems.

The main problem has been the accumulation of un-used cylinder oil additives, resulting in excessive deposits on the
piston topland. This has led to high wear, and to the situation that increased lubrication does not improve the condition.
On the contrary, increased lubrication increases the formation of deposits, leading to acceleration of the problem.

It has been established that a certain degree of controlled corrosion enhances lubrication, in that the corrosion generates
small “pockets” in the cylinder liner running face from which hydrodynamic lubrication from the oil in the pocket is created.

The alternative, no corrosion, could lead to bore-polish and, subsequently, hamper the creation of the necessary oil film on
the liner surface, resulting, eventually, in accelerated wear. Controlled corrosion – not avoiding corrosion – is therefore
crucial, and adjusting the BN to the fuel oil sulphur content is essential on stationary engines and, in special cases, also on
marine engines.

Special running conditions because of frequent bunkering of low sulphur fuels and environmental fuel regulations (by the
authorities or self-imposed), requiring the use of low sulphur fuel and special running conditions, may call for a lowering of
the total alkaline additive content. This can be done by lowering the dosage down towards our minimum feed rate or,
alternatively, by using one of the specially designed cylinder oils with a lower BN and with full detergency.

Service tests with such specially designed low BN oils have shown good results.
However, it may be difficult to determine whether changing to a BN40 or BN50 cylinder oil can solve a specific problem.
For this reason, we recommend that you contact engine builder, before making such a change.

STX Engine STX Heavy Industries STX Dalian Engine STX Metal STX Marine Service
80, Seongsan-dong,Changwon 66-5,Sinchon-dong,Changwon Bachagou,Changxing Island 452-7,Nae-dong,Changwon 17F, STX Panocean Bldg
Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea Harbor Industrial Zone Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea 83-5, 4-ga,Jungang-dong,Jung-gu
641-315 641-371 Dalian,China,116318 641-050 Busan, 600-725, Korea
 Technical Information

General
It should be considered that, irrespective of the sulphur content being high or low, the fuels used in low speed engines are
usually low quality heavy fuels. Therefore, the cylinder oils must have full capacity in respect of detergency and
dispersancy, irrespective of the BN specified. This is a newly developed technology soon to be mastered by all the well-
reputed lube oil suppliers, who can individually tailor a cylinder lube oil to the relevant fuel.

Most licensees are using low sulphur DO fuels, primarily for environmental reasons.
This, in combination with a relatively high running-in lube oil dosage, requires a high detergency level. Therefore, we
generally recommend the use of a BN70 cylinder oil, irrespective of the sulphur content of the fuel oil.

When introducing alu-coating on piston rings and semi-honed cylinder liners, we also introduced a shorter running-in
period which, furthermore, limits the period in which excess cylinder lube oil is supplied, and improves the running-in
conditions. This means that the entire running-in period, up to 100 hours, is fully acceptable for using BN70 cylinder lube
oils.

STX Engine STX Heavy Industries STX Dalian Engine STX Metal STX Marine Service
80, Seongsan-dong,Changwon 66-5,Sinchon-dong,Changwon Bachagou,Changxing Island 452-7,Nae-dong,Changwon 17F, STX Panocean Bldg
Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea Harbor Industrial Zone Gyeongsangnam-do,Korea 83-5, 4-ga,Jungang-dong,Jung-gu
641-315 641-371 Dalian,China,116318 641-050 Busan, 600-725, Korea