Chevron 100 BN cylinder oil gets NOL nod from MAN

OCTOBER 31, 2014 — Chevron Marine Products LLC says that, following extensive sea trials, MAN Diesel & Turbo has upgraded its interim approval of a new 100 BN cylinder oil to a full “no objection” letter (NOL).

Chevron Marine Products launched its Taro Special HT 100 lubricant earlier this year. 

Marine lubricant manufacturers have been offering two stroke cylinder oils with higher base numbers to deal with the higher pressures and lower temperatures within new generation, longer stroke engines, which can encounter problems such as cold corrosion.

The sea trials were successfully conducted on a VLCC equipped with the latest generation MAN G-engine Mk 9.2 and took place in early 2014 under conditions prescribed by MAN.

Trial procedures included: piston inspection, drip oil analysis, visual port inspections and liner surface condition and wear examinations. This trial successfully demonstrated lower required feed rates compared to commercial 70 BN oils to achieve the OEM-recommended performance, providing liner wear protection and minimization of wear. Chevron Marine says the lower feed rates can offset the difference in cost between the new 100 BN formulation and traditional 70BN oil.

In addition to the trials Chevron Marine has accumulated nearly 300,000 hours worth of commercial operation with Taro Special HT 100.

“This is excellent news and one which we believe our new Taro product fully deserves. In fact we are optimistic that other OEMs will provide  us with NOL accreditation in the coming months following further validation trials we are completing,” said Rafael Teodoro, Chevron Marine’s Global Marine Marketing Manager.

The development of Taro Special HT 100 was overseen from Chevron Marine’s affiliated global research and development facility in Ghent, Belgium, which undertakes in depth analysis of many thousands of lubricant samples from deep sea vessels every year.

Taro Special HT 100 is now available in selected ports around the world.