July 16, 1985 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News

British-Made Sea Star Blender Cuts Fuel Costs With Heavy And Light Oil Mixture

The British-made Sea Star Blender is said to substanially reduce the generator fuel costs of seagoing vessels— it blends the relatively cheap heavy oil used by the main engines with the more expensive light oil that is normally used by generators.

The blender achieves an average proportion of 70:30, to provide a mixture which can be supplied to the generator engines. The mix is automatically adjusted according to the generator loading. Light loadings require a higher proportion of light oil, while heavy loadings permit a higher proportion of cheaper, heavy fuel.

The blender, which is an in-line system, supplies fuel directly to the generator engines and avoids the risk associated with conventional blender units of the two fuels settling or stratifying in the blended fuel supply tank. Entirely selfcontained, the unit requires no additional pumps, heaters or filters.

Heavy and light oils are introduced and constantly circulated within the unit to ensure thorough, continuous mixing and a high degree of filtration (an automatically operated viscosity control unit is included).

If a malfunction should occur, the blender automatically shuts down and switches the fuel supply to light oil. An alarm goes off, and diesel engine operations continue uninterrupted.

For a free brochure and further literature on the Sea Star Blender, Circle 42 on Reader Service Card

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