CSSC Marine Service Co (CMS), the equipment service subsidiary of China’s State Shipbuilding Corporation is offering a retrofit service to address engine problems that could occur on start up when using low-viscosity, low-sulphur fuel oils (LSFOs)
CMS said it is offering the retrofit product because two-stroke engines using common-rail fuel injection sometimes report problems reaching and maintaining high enough fuel rail pressure when using LSFOs. This occurs due to wear of fuel pumps, starting air problems or leaking injection control units.
CMS president Andrew Stump said “We developed this solution following reports received from our customers of engine starting failures encountered when using low sulphur fuels.”
Less viscous fuels, including many LSFOs, require higher pumping pressure for engines to start, meaning start up failures could become more common with the onset of IMO’s sulphur cap.
CMS’ product is available for common-rail RT-Flex engines with five to seven cylinders of 48-60 mm bore deploying two or more fuel pumps. The Fuel Rail Booster pump upgrade maintains fuel rail pressure required for a first-time start.
This system draws on the same fuel pump as the engine’s fuel supply unit. CMS claims this offers redundancy, reduces vessels’ spare parts inventories and reduces starting air consumption. CMS reports that the lower maintenance costs this brings could potentially extend time between overhauls.
Mr Stump added “CMS has secured several maintenance and inspection agreements since its launch. We will continue to establish the infrastructure required to satisfy these and to further expand our services to the marine sector.”
The company has opened three service hubs – in South Korea, Singapore and Hamburg – and five service stations since it was founded in 2017. It plans to open six service hubs and 28 stations by 2020.
Its service stations are currently located in China (Qingdao, Gaungzhou, Chengxi and Shanghai), South Korea, Singapore, Hamburg and Switzerland.