This is today's situation: Ship operating practices are driven by new regulations like Tier II and III as well as the economic need for improving fuel efficiency. In response to these requirements, the market adopted low load operation (slow steaming) and new engine designs featuring longer strokes. These adjustments cause engines to operate at lower temperatures, which increases the formation of sulfuric acid and the risk of cold corrosion to cylinder liners and piston rings.
The iCOlube® pioneering technology
iCOlube® is a new revolution amongst marine lubricants and provides you with a cylinder oil that perfectly meets your needs at any time. The intelligent Cylinder Oil lubrication unit optimizes NAVIGO 100 MCL with fresh or used system oil in order to adjust the base number to the specific engine requirements such as load and sulfur content of the fuel. With this innovation, the engine feed rate always stays at optimum level.
iCOlube® is installed in parallel with the cylinder oil transfer pumps and always maintains the engine in best condition. It takes the oil from the settling and storage tanks and leads it to one of the two day tanks (one for high and one for low sulfur fuel application) by integrated pumps. The unit is easy to install and is automatically controlled by the start and stop level switches in the day tanks. Alternatively, the system can easily be operated by hand.
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One purpose of the cylinder oil is to neutralize the sulfuric acid which is formed during the combustion process. The neutralization capacity of the lubricant is specified by its base number (BN). For many years, 70BN oil was the lubricant with the highest BN neutralization capacity worldwide. However, with the increased amount of acid, 70 BN oils are no longer sufficient and the demand for higher BN lubricants arises. The first of them was launched by LUKOIL in 2012: NAVIGO 100 MCL.
Easy and time-saving engine operation
The sulfur content of the fuel is the only value that needs to be entered into the system. It's really as easy as that — only one grade of cylinder oil is necessary on board.
Fuel savings.
The system oil is constantly renewed so the engine is running with less friction at optimum system oil quality.
Maintains your engine in best condition
Engines are always running at optimum feed rate with optimum BN. With iCOlube®, the risks of carbon deposits and cold corrosion are considerably reduced.
Reduced oil costs
Сylinder oil is optimized with fresh or used system oil, saving significant oil and costs.
Environmentally friendly technology
The innovative iCOlube® helps to avoid excessive alkalinity reserve. It also reduces cylinder oil consumption and used system oil disposal, guaranteeing environmentally friendly operation.
Due to its compact design, iCOlube® can be easily installed. There is no need for additional devices such as transformers etc.
By now manufacturers require the use of 100 BN oils for new engines. This provides advantages for both new engines and all engines used for slow steaming. However, 100 BN is not needed with all fuel qualities. Depending on the specific engine design, a full 100 BN oil may only be necessary with high sulfur levels.
With lower sulfur levels a lower BN oil might be sufficient in order to optimize performance and efficiency. For this technological challenge, LUKOIL developed iCOlube®, a unit which uses fresh or used system oil to optimize NAVIGO 100 MCL, tailoring the alkalinity reserve to the prevailing engine load and fuel sulfur content.
