Analysis of the Impact of Replacing Low Sulfur Marine Gas Oil for Ship’s Main Engine on Fuel Injector

With the introduction of sulfur limitation orders and emission control area policies, ocean going vessels using high sulfur heavy fuel oil need to replace low sulfur marine gas oil (LSMGO) when entering the restricted area. However, during the replacement of LSMGO, it will have a certain impact on the fuel injector of the ship’s main engine. This article takes a typical engine fuel injector stuck fault event during oil change as an example, and analyzes specific issues from several aspects such as the structure, working principle, oil change operation process and requirements, heavy fuel oil characteristics, LSMGO characteristics, impact of fuel mixing performance, and failure phenomena of the fuel injector. In response to the above practical problems, this article will focus on proposing corresponding countermeasures from the aspects of oil change operation process, temperature and viscosity control, LSMGO lubricity, etc. In practical applications, this method can effectively avoid the occurrence of related faults.