Tribological Assessment of Marine Distillate Fuels under a Variant HFRR Method

Abstract

Maritime transport has a vital role in world economy. Its efficiency depends on the effective trade, transport facilitation, low cost of customs and the integration of new technologies for sustainable operation. However, the con-temporary demands have turned shipping industry into an emerging air pollutant with significant share to the global climate change problem. The industry is growing rapidly and it needs to lower greenhouse gas emissions in order to contribute towards the valuable effort for net zero emissions by 2050. A milestone to the ambitious strategy of decarbonization is the use of low or zero sulphur fuels that will contribute to the development of viable zero-emission vessels by 2030. Netherless the introduction of low-sulphur marine gasoils in the global fuel supply chain is accompanied by a huge range of side effects related to their storage, combustion, ignition and lubricity. The objective of the study is the evaluation of the lubricity of different marine distillate fuels with the High Frequency Reciprocating Rig (HFRR) test, either by following the primary conditions defined by ISO 12156-1 standard or by modifying them. The ultimate goal is the accurate and reliable assessment of their lubricating capacity so as to identify the challenges related to it, on time.