Page 79: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1999)

attention of the industry. In examining the parameters impact-ing on oil consumption in medium speed engines a range of factors were identified. Examples of these included engine design & operating conditions, the fuel quality and the lubricant quality. With respect to the engine design the power density is expressed by size and cycle parameters, lubricant charge expressed as kg/kW and lubricating oil consumption g/kWh are some of the parameters that affect the degradation of the lubricant. For many large medium speed engines, ship owners have come to expect that periodic renewal of the lubri-cant charge is not necessary. Under nor-mal operating conditions this view has been correct as the lubricant received periodic replenishment by the addition of make-up oil great enough to stabilize the oil at levels within the designers rec-ommendations. A low oil consumption/make-up invariably leads to partial or complete renewal of the charge when the increased stress due to reduced oil make-up causes oil parameters to fall below engine-builder recommended limit. This poses the question whether a low make-up rate is economical. The answer lies in the complex debate/inter-action of make-up and renewal charge volumes. In comparing the whole life cost of different lubrication regimes account must be taken of the possible differential lubricant cost and also the cost of disposal of the used oil. The document addresses oil consump-tion (defined as amounts of oil make up plus system charge renewal) required i) to keep the engine operating satisfacto-rily and ii) to control the oil quality within limits prescribed by the engine builder or suggested by the oil supplier. Major factors impacting on oil con-sumption are summarized together with the consequences of inadequate quanti-ty/quality. It also offers some advice to cope with such situation. ICAN Introduces Release II International Communications and Navigation Limited, provider of marine electronic navigation and DGPS ser-vices has released new versions of its electronic charting system software ? Aldebaran II and Regulus II for the Win-dows NT operating system. An upgrade to the company's ECS software, Release II provides many new features such as the ability to read multiple electronic charts, store and display routes and voy-ages, and adjust light levels. The product, which is expected to be released this month, is ? as with the company's previous releases ? Y2K compliant. ACR Introduces S&R System ACR Electronics, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has developed the RapidFix? 406 ? a 406 MHz EPIRB with a GPS inter-face. Dubbed as the next generation of EPIRB by ACR, RapidFix provides an entirely new functionality to the satel-lite-aided search and rescue system by using a GPS NMEA 0183 interface. This new function adds latitude/longi-tude coordinates to the emergency sig-nal transmitted by the unit, while pre-cise position is immediately given to one of the new Geosar satellites in high-earth orbit. The cost-effective RapidFix is advantageous over combination EPIRB/GPS units because it eliminates the need for a cold start initialization and can be installed with a direct con-nection to a live NMEA 0183 data source from a GPS receiver. In addition to the owner's unique, registered, coded 406 MHz signal, RapidFix transmits a homing signal on the 121.5 MHz SAR homing frequency. Circle 52 on Reader Service Card SMART LEVEL ENS0RS USCG & ABS Approved The Ballast Sensor The Radar Sensor mi DUTCH IN HRP is the worldwide supplier of 360° steerable thruster systems and tunnel thrusters up to 2000 kW. The Azimuth Thruster Systems are available in well mounted, retractable and deck mounted versions and suitable for each drive mode. All HRP Thruster Systems have one thing in common: they are strong, reliable and meet all classification society standards. The systems are built according to the proven excellent Dutch craftmanship of HRP. THRUSTER SYSTEMS Holland Roerpropeller BV ? P.O. Box 2020 ? 2930 AA Krimpen a/d Lek. Tel. +31 (0)180 519 988 ? Fax +31 (0)180 519 256 ? www.hrp.nl The Bubbler Sensor The Gauger The Sea Switch }'?;/ v.; , ELECTRONIC MARINE SYSTEMS, INC. 800 Ferndale Place Rahway, NJ 07065 November, 1999 Circle 264 on Reader Service Card Circle 241 on Reader Service Card 75