June, 2020

Diesel Engine
Lubrication
Outline

I. Industry Overview
II. Low Speed Diesel Engine
III. Medium Speed Diesel Engine
IV. High Speed Diesel Engine
Industry Overview
Market Insight

• Current Oil-fueled power plant share is 7%,

expected to be decline to 4% in 2025 and 2%
in 2040
• Business Insight: The Mobile Power
Generation Equipment Rentals Market
Market size has the potential to grow by USD
1.50 billion during 2020-2024.
• More Opportunities
Definitions
• Stationary engine
An engine or portable engine that remains at a location performing the same function continuously or intermittently for
more than 12 months
• Temporary engine
An engine firing diesel and/or dual fuel that is designed to be capable of being carried or moved from one location to
another. It is anticipated to be in place for a short period of time
• Emergency engine
A type of engine firing diesel and/or dual fuel used exclusively in emergency situations.
Limited to 52 hours of operation for testing and maintenance per year based on a rolling 12-month average and to a
maximum of 100 hours of operation for testing and maintenance in a calendar year

Engine Comparison
Speed Slow Medium High

Rotational Speed (RPM) 50 – 300 300 – 1000 1000 – 2250

Bore Size (mm) 260 – 980 200 – 620 98 – 185

Power per cylinder (kW/cylinder) 200 – 9000 76 – 1325 15 – 125

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Low Speed Diesel Engine
Market Share

• Low speed engine make up majority of main engines

• MAN Diesel & Turbo (MDT) and Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD)
share most of the crosshead market

Market Share by engine speed Low Speed Market Share by OEM

Slow Speed Medium Speed High Speed MDT WinGD Others

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Description

• Simplest possible arrangement without gears and minimum number of cylinders, but engine
room needs sufficient space
• Excellent historical record of proven reliability, durability and safety, especially on heavy fuel
oils
• Low-speed, two-stroke crosshead diesel engine are used for electricity generation in large
land-based power plants.

Shaft

Generator

Coupling
Typical Characteristic
• Typically on heavy fuel oil operation

• Power per cylinder : 200 - 9000 kW (Commonly: 1000 - 3000 kW)

• Engine power : 1200 - 83000 kW (Commonly: 5000 - 20000 kW)

• Number of cylinders : 4 - 14 (Commonly: 5 - 7 cylinders)

• Large bore : 260 - 980 mm (Commonly: 500 - 700)

• Rotational speed : 50 - 300 RPM (Commonly: 70 - 140)

• High stroke-to-bore ratios : up to 4.2 : 1

• Directly coupled to propeller at lower RPMs

• Uniflow scavenge system and single exhaust valve

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Engine Lubrication

Turbocharg
ers Area to be lubricated in a two-strokes crosshead
(3)
engine:
Piston Exhaust valve
coolin
g (2)
actuator (2) • Cylinder lubrication (piston rings, grooves,
Cylinder (1) liners)

Camshaft (2) Crosshead

• System lubrication (bearings, camshaft,
Gland crosshead, cooling piston heads, hydraulic
Chain drive (2) (Stuffing box) fluid exhaust valves)
Others: Gears (4)
Turbo compound systems (4) • Miscellaneous (gear oil PTO/PTI systems,
Crosshead Governor (4) turbocharger bearings lubrication, hydraulic
bearing (2) circuit ...)
Crankshaft (1) Cylinder lubricant
bearing (2) (2) System lubricant
(3) System or specialty lubricant
Main an thrust (4) Specialty lubricant
bearing (2)

Source: CIMAC
The Importance of Lubricants

These lubricants must:

• Control friction and mechanical wear
• Prevent corrosion
• Act as a coolant
• Resist oxidation and thermal degradation
• Possess good water shedding characteristics
• Keep deposits in undercrown areas to a minimum, if any.
Mobil Lubricant Solution
Cylinder lubrication
• Typical consumption: 0.60 – 1.60 g/kWhr
(~50-70% of large vessel’s total lubricant consumption)
• Regular injection into cylinder liner
• Recommended lubricants:
• Mobilgard 5100 - SAE 50 viscosity, BN 100
• Mobilgard 570 - SAE 50 viscosity, BN 70
• Mobilgard 560VS - SAE 50 viscosity, BN 60
• Mobilgard 525 - SAE 50 viscosity, BN 25

System lubrication (main engine sump / crankcase)

• Typical consumption: 0.10 – 0.20 g/kWhr
(~10-20% of large vessel’s total lubricant consumption)
• Typical volume in sump 0.75 – 1.50 kg/kW
• Splash lubrication
• Recommended lubricant:
• Mobilgard 300 C - SAE 30 viscosity, BN 9
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Medium Speed Diesel
Engine
Engine Builders

Large Number of Engine Builders

• MAN Diesel & Turbo (Augsburg, Germany and Holeby, Denmark)
• Wartsila (Vaasa, Finland)
• Sulzer (Wartsila)
• Caterpillar
• Deutz
• MaK (Caterpillar)
• Rolls Royce
• SEMT Pielstick (MAN)
• Ruston (MAN)
• Yanmar
• Daihatsu

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 Description
• Smaller size (especially height) compared to low speed
engines
• Multiple engine installation enables versatility of engine
operation modes
• Used as auxiliary engines for power generation on both
larger vessels and smaller vessels.
Multiple engine installation
• Usually 3-4 medium speed engines as auxiliary engines on
larger vessels

Generator

Gearbox
Generator

AUXILIARY ENGINES
MAIN ENGINES

Generator
Gearbox

Generator
Typical Characteristic
Example of typical data for a large medium speed engine

• Power Output: 16,800 kW (22,880 HP)

• Weight: 225 tons

• Lube Consumption: 185 liters/day (0.5 g/kWhr)

• Lube flow to engine: 230 m3/hr

Source: MAN Diesel & Turbo SE

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Lubrication System

• Most large medium speed engines

have a “dry sump” system

• The oil is not kept in the engine’s

crankcase, but is pumped into a
separate oil tank. This is in contrast
to the “wet sump” where the oil
remains in the crankcase sump

• It is common practice to allow for an oil quantity of 1.2 kg/KW for

the “dry sump” system an d 0.35 kg/KW for the “wet sump”
system
Selecting Lubricant

Typical components used in medium speed Selecting Appropriate Lubricant

diesel engines lubricants • In Accordance with Engine Builders
Requirements
Balanced Additive • Generally BN to match the Fuel In Use
System,
typically including:
• Basic Detergents
High Quality Base Oils
(SAE 30 or SAE 40)
+ • Dispersants
• Anti-Oxidants
• Anti-Wear
• Anti-Foam
• Demulsifier
Mobil Lubricant Solution
Medium speed engine lubrication:
• Typical lube oil consumption varies
• Can increase with engine age and usage
• ~15-25% of large vessel’s total lubricant consumption from
use as aux engine
• Typical volume in sump:
• Dry Sump Engines (Main engine): 1.3 liters/kW
• Wet Sump Engines (Some main engines, and auxiliary
engines):
• Older engines (<1990): 0.5 – 1.0 liters/kW
• Newer engines: 0.3 – 0.5 liters/kW
• Recommended lubricants depend on fuel type and OEM
approvals:
• Mobilgard M series – Heavy Fuel Oil
• Mobilgard 12 series – Distillate Fuel
• Mobilgard ADL – Distillate Fuel and better sludge/deposit
removal
• Mobilgard 1 SHC – Synthetic engine oil 19
Typical lubricant consumption

System Oils
• Engines built <1982
• After Overhaul, about 1.0 g/kWh
• Before Overhaul, 1.5 - 2.5 g/kWh
• Engines Built 1982 - 1992
• After Overhaul, 0.7 - 1.0 g/kWh
• Before Overhaul, 1.0 - 2.0 g/kWh
• Engines built after 1992
• After Overhaul or New, 0.5 - 0.7 g/kWh
• Before Overhaul, 1.0 - 1.5 g/kWh

Note:
The Total Apparent Consumption = True Consumption + Losses
(Used from storage tank) (Used by engine) (leakage, purifier
losses, etc.)
Reduced engine lube oil volume

Change in the “Rule of thumb” for system volume vs. engine power:
Old - 1 litre (minimum) for 1 bhp

Current - 0.7 litres/kw common for dry sump engines

0.5 litres/kw and as low as 0.3 litres/kw for wet sump
engines

LUBRICANTS IN SOME MODERN ENGINES ARE NOW

REQUIRED TO HANDLE UP TO DOUBLE THE CONTAMINATION
IN THE SYSTEM vs PREVIOUS DESIGNS
High Speed Diesel Engine
Engine Builders

• MTU / Detroit Diesel • MAN Nuremberg

• Ruston / MAN Diesel & Turbo • Volvo
• Caterpillar • Mercedes
• Cummins • Cummins
• Deutz • DAF

Cummins KTA 19 M4
Detroit Series 60

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High Speed Engine

• Heavy duty engines can be 10 Liters or more

• Heat-of-compression ignites air/fuel mixture (no

spark plugs)

• Rugged construction withstands rigors of higher

compression

• Cylinder block and head made from cast iron

• High strength alloyed steel used for most internal

rotating parts

• Wet-sleeve cylinder liners used for high mileage

serviceability and durability

• In-line 6 cylinder is the common engine configuration

The Lubrication System
• Lubrication is accomplished by an engine’s
internal delivery system Oil Pump

• A gear (or rotor) pump pulls oil out of the sump

through the pick up screen

• The oil pump generates 30-60 psi system

pressure at a rate of 30 gpm

• Oil then flows through filtration and temp control

• Circulation proceeds through machined galleys in

Filter / Cooler Module
the engine block, cyl. head and rotating assembly

• Some parts are directly lubricated while others via

splash method
Pickup Screen
Function of an Engine Oil

A properly formulated diesel engine oil is critical to the successful

operation of an internal combustion engine. The oil must:

• Have sufficiently high viscosity to separate moving metal components

under a wide range of speed / load / temperature conditions

• Have sufficiently low viscosity at low temperatures to be pumped to

critical engine components on start-up

• Protect internal engine components from the aggressive chemical

environment inside the engine due to combustion processes
• Prevent corrosion of copper and iron alloys
• Keep metal surfaces clean
• Suspend soot particulate to prevent agglomeration

• Provide all this protection consistently for a long period of time

Mobil Lubricant Solution

• Multigrade oils typically used (better cold start capability)

• OEM approvals important for high speed engines
• Both minerals and synthetics approved in general
• Common grades:
• Mobil Delvac MX 15W-40
• Mobil Delvac Super 1300
• Mobil Delvac Super 1400
• Mobil Delvac 1 5W-40
• Mobil Delvac 1 ESP

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