The Total Lubmarine Technical Director sat down earlier this summer with Motorship’s Nick Edstrom to discuss Total’s readiness for IMO 2020, its portfolio expansion and the digitalization of its monitoring services.
Lubricants available in all major hubs from Q4
Mr Roman made clear that Total is 2020 ready. Touching on the recent Total Global Sulfur Cap Forums, he noted that shipowners are ready to follow engine manufacturers recommendations, and in particular, to segregate fuels. He noted that while the majority of vessels will run on Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO), he expects to see a steady increase in the number of vessels operating on Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).
Versatile solutions for a new era
In preparation for the new multi-fuel era, Mr Roman made note of the expansion to Total Lubmarine’s product portfolio. For cylinder oils, Total will be providing a new BN40 as a standard product for engine manufacturers. A new BN25 product will look to support customers operating on 0.1% sulfur fuel, with compatibility for dual-fuel two stroke engines.
Mr Roman also made note of Talusia Optima, a high basicity, low-ash chemistry cylinder oil solution. Optima works particularly well for ship operators who have high demands for detergency, whether that is for vessels operating with a scrubber or dual-fuel VLSFO/LNG. Options for the four-stroke market were also discussed.
Continuing to innovate through digitalization
Total Lubmarine combines the data from its drain oil analysis service, Diagomar Plus, with the operational data recorded at the time the sample was taken to permit deeper analysis. With advances in digital services and improved access to data from newer engines, Mr Roman noted that Total is continuing to invest in developing its digital offering.
“Our research is currently focused on a project automatizing the analysis aboard of the drain oils, but we are we are also investigating a probabilistic model based on statistical analysis of trends based on Total Lubmarine’s extensive, existing, database of drain oil samples.”